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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 28 Jun 1995

Vol. 455 No. 2

Written Answers. - Mentally Handicapped Patients.

Tom Moffatt

Ceist:

115 Dr. Moffatt asked the Minister for Health the number of mentally handicapped patients in St. Ita's, Portrane, County Dublin, at present; and if the conditions and facilities are suitable for those patients. [11977/95]

Responsibility for the provision of services at St. Ita's, Portrane, is a matter for the Eastern Health Board. A total of 342 persons with a mental handicap are currently accommodated in St. Joseph's Mental Handicap Service on the campus of St. Ita's Hospital. A further 14 persons with mental handicap live in hostel type residential accommodation on the grounds of St. Ita's.

The Eastern Health Board has prepared a draft plan which addresses the needs of people with mental handicap in St. Joseph's service. The board plans in the medium term to move over 200 of the younger adults with mental handicap to a number of alternative locations spread throughout its area. It is proposed that the clients remaining on the St. Ita's campus will be accommodated in the more modern units on site which are being gradually upgraded.

My Department has provided additional funding to the St. Joseph's Mental Handicap Service for the past two years. This funding has been used to upgrade buildings, to recruit additional staff and to provide for the transfer of some 47 people to more appropriate accommodation off the St. Ita's campus. Additional funding is being provided by my Department in 1995 to continue both the upgrading of facilities and the transfer of clients to more appropriate care settings off the St. Ita's campus.
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