asked the Minister for Health the total number of beds available for congenital mentally defective patients in Dublin Health Authority area.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Congenital Mental Defectives.
109.
Mr. O'Malley
In the provision of residential accommodation for the mentally handicapped, no specific distinction is made between patients whose handicap is congenital and those whose handicap can be attributed to other causes.
The accommodation available for mentally handicapped patients in the Dublin Health Authority area consists of (a) institutions specially catering for mentally handicapped persons operated by religious orders and other voluntary bodies, and, (b) mental institutions operated by the authority itself in which are accommodated patients, mostly adults, whose primary diagnosis is of mental handicap.
The total number of beds available in the institutions at (a) is 1,679. These institutions operate on a national basis and admissions are not confined to patients from the Dublin Health Authority area. The same applies to similar institutions in other parts of the country.
In the institutions at (b), there is, in general no fixed number of beds available for mentally handicapped patients but there are estimated to be about 600 patients of this category in the institutions concerned. Included in this number is the special unit for 70 mentally handicapped children at St. Ita's Hospital, Portrane.
110.
asked the Minister for Health the total number of (a) children and (b) adults classed as congenital mental defectives needing hospital or other institutional accommodation and awaiting such accommodation.
Mr. O'Malley
Separate figures are not available in respect of persons with congenital mental handicap as distinct from mental handicap which can be attributed to other causes. Subject to this, the information requested by the Deputy is (a) 814, (b) 57.