Vol. 251 No. 1
asked the Minister for Health whether any inquiry has been made into the case of the young girl, referred to recently by Deputy Dr. O'Connell, said to have been held for five months in the Central Mental Hospital, Dundrum, Dublin, and about whom the Minister for Justice is said to have disclaimed responsibility for releasing her.
31.
asked the Minister for Health the grounds on which a person (name supplied) was transferred to the Central Mental Hospital, Dundrum, Dublin; and whether he is satisfied that this patient could not be cared for at St. Brendan's Hospital and receive remedial psychiatric care there.
32.
asked the Minister for Health whether he has investigated the case of a person (name supplied); whether he sought the advice of the Inspector of Mental Hospitals about the advisability of this young patient being transferred to Saint Brendan's Hospital for psychiatric care and treatment; and if he will make a statement in the matter.
With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 30 to 32 together.
I am sure that the Deputy, as a doctor, will appreciate my difficulty in answering questions in regard to individual patients—questions which cannot be answered fully without disclosing clinical details, something which I am sure the Deputy does not expect me to do. I am also in the difficulty that I am not sure to what patients the questions relate. I assume the person to whom Deputy O'Connell referred is a certain patient. If my assumption is correct, this girl was in the Central Mental Hospital from June to October, 1969, on the Order of the Minister for Justice. She was then discharged. She was readmitted as a temporary patient to St. Loman's Hospital, Ballyowen, in November last. I have, at present, before me proposals for her transfer to the Central Mental Hospital under the provisions of section 207 of the Mental Treatment Act, 1945. After a full investigation by competent psychiatrists, I am advised that she is completely unsuitable for treatment in a district mental hospital. I must point out that the circumstances outlined by Deputy Dr. O'Connell in respect of this case are not in accordance with the facts. To give one example, the information at my disposal indicates that this patient has been hospitalised in psychiatric institutions on at least 20 occasions since 1966.
There is no male patient in the Central Mental Hospital under the name conveyed to me by Deputy Browne. I assume, however, he refers to a patient with the same surname who was admitted on an Order of the Minister for Justice in December last. This Order was made on medical recommendation. The Inspector of Mental Hospitals has advised me that he is satisfied that the Central Mental Hospital is more suitable for the treatment of this particular patient than St. Brendan's.
