Vol. 477 No. 2
74 Mr. L. Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Health, in view of correspondence submitted to Deputy L. Fitzgerald by friends and relatives of mentally handicapped persons, if he will provide additional resources to take account of the fact that at present 2,950 mentally handicapped people have not got a service, that 1,500 of these have no day service and 1,450 are waiting for a residential service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8790/97]
I hope to make arrangements in the near future for the publication of an assessment of the need for services for persons with a mental handicap as identified by the national intellectual disability database.
However, my understanding is that the database indicates that the number of persons with a mental handicap who have not got a service is considerably less than the figures quoted by the Deputy.
Additional funding amounting to £12 million has been made available for the further development in 1997 of services to persons with a mental handicap. This is being used to meet identified needs in existing services, to provide additional residential-respite places and day care places, to improve services for persons with autism and to continue the ongoing programme to transfer persons with a mental handicap from inappropriate placements to more appropriate care settings.
Details of the precise services to be put in place in each health board region are agreed by the regional mental handicap co-ordinating committees in line with the priority needs which have been identified for each region.
