asked the Minister for Health if he is aware of the serious repercussions that have arisen for mentally handicapped persons graduating from St. Michael's House, Dublin who are unable to obtain places in the appropriate adult centres due to the staff embargo imposed by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Adult Mentally Handicapped Facilities.
I am aware of the difficulties, caused by the present financial constraints, in having available a full range of places for persons with mental handicap. Despite these difficulties, I have taken every opportunity to assist the agencies involved in the provision and maintenance of these places. I was able, for example, to assist St. Michael's House at the end of 1984 through the allocation of an additional £150,000 to alleviate the burden of commitments entered into by the association without my prior approval. It is my intention to continue to provide whatever assistance the present difficult financial circumstances will allow, including the opening of Belcamp as soon as possible.
I am glad that the Minister will give every assistance to St. Michael's by way of financial resources, etc., as at present they are in a financial crisis. Has the Minister had meetings during the past three months with St. Michael's in regard to adults who badly need places and training centres when they leave the children's section of St. Michael's? There has been a problem in this regard over the last nine months and parents of children leaving St. Michael's have been unable to get any guarantee that places will be available for them in adult training centres, despite the fact that St. Michael's are prepared to take them on. However, because of the embargo on staff, they cannot recruit additional staff——
This is a very long question.
It is an ongoing and serious matter, as the Minister will appreciate.
The major development affecting St. Michael's is the prospect of opening the day care unit in Belcamp. As the Deputy knows, we provided substantial moneys for that unit to be built and 70 places are awaiting commissioning there. The opening of that centre would make places available for children and I am currently examining it in the context of the Estimate for 1986 which has just been finalised. I hope to make a statement about it in the very near future.
Could I ask another supplementary?
I am calling Deputy Flaherty.
Well, I want to ask——
I allowed the Deputy a very long question.
You allowed me one question.
I will come back to you.
Is the Minister aware of how dependent Dublin's north side is on the services supplied by St. Michael's? The problem with the centre in Belcamp is symptomatic of the problems in regard to adult places in residential units on the north side also. In the light of the decision within his Department in relation to Loughlinstown, is the Minister optimistic that money saved from the Loughlinstown project will be used to expand the services of St. Michael's House, which is suffering a crisis at present?
I am anxious to open Belcamp as quickly as possible. The annual cost of running it will be well over £300,000 per year. It is a substantial sum of money but I have consistently transferred resources into this area. I wish to assure Deputies and St. Michael's who get very substantial allocations from the Department amounting to nearly £4 million per year, that I will be making a particular effort this year to bring the units into commission. I will be dealing with Loughlinstown later on in response to a question from my constituency colleague, Deputy David Andrews.
When this matter was raised in March last year the Minister gave a somewhat similar reply and promised that he would do everything possible to facilitate St. Michael's financially. I have no doubt that the Minister is anxious to help St. Michael's but is he prepared to allow the additional staff required to undertake the extra tasks which are necessary from the adult training point of view?
For every £100 one makes available £70 goes in paying staff, so the Deputy will appreciate the constraints placed on me at present.
Did the Minister have a recent meeting with St. Michael's?
There were meetings at an official level and I have also made arrangements for greater involvement by the Eastern Health Board in relation to Cheeverstown.
Is the Minister's Department prepared to allocate additional staff as required by St. Michael's?
I will be discussing that matter with them when I take a final decision on the commissioning of the unit.
Is the Minister concerned at the number of buildings, purpose built for adult mentally handicapped, lying vacant for years? Is there any chance of them being staffed as it is illogical to build units without supplying staff?
Anything I have built in the past three years I have opened and provided the money to run it. I inherited a substantial number of premises which had not been opened, but in the past three years we have opened at least five major units — Galway, Drumcar, St. Michael's, Cheeverstown and many others — and we have provided the cash to run them. To an extent I have taken that money from other areas and any new money allocated was diverted to the area of mental handicap and the psychiatric services.
In view of the fact that the Minister has made a positive commitment to the Belcamp unit, is there any hope that the Department may find extra funds this year for residential places, which are equally urgently needed on the north side?
The priority is to get full residential usage from Cheeverstown, which cost about £12 million to build and which has not been wholly opened. I am disappointed at the extent to which residential places available there have not yet been filled and we are making every effort to see that these places are taken up. That is why I am transferring their budget to the Eastern Health Board, who will work in closer contact with them, rather than a direct funding basis through the Department.