Vol. 494 No. 6
21 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for Health and Children the capital and current cost of providing the service requirements identified in the report, Services to Persons with a Mental Handicap - Intellectual Disability, an Assessment of Need 1997-2001; and his intentions in relation to funding these needs. [18882/98]
My Department's Assessment of Need for Services for Persons with a Mental Handicap 1997-2001 which is based on Information from the National Intellectual Disability Database provides information on the current and future needs of persons with a mental handicap. That assessment identified a requirement for 1,439 new residential-respite places and 1,036 new day places during the period 1997-2001.
It is estimated that the revenue cost of providing the required services will be in the region of £63.5 million over the period. The Government's commitment to meeting this cost is clearly set out in An Action Programme for the Millennium. I have also put in place a major £30 million four year national capital programme, commencing this year, to provide the volume and quality of facilities required to provide these new services and which will run in tandem with the implementation of the needs outlined in the Assessment of Need. I recently provided further capital funding of £5 million on top of the £30 million national capital programme. This allocation brings the amount of additional funding allocated by me in the last 12 months to £25 million. This compares with £12 million allocated under the previous administration in 1997, the first year of the assessment of need.
My Department, the health boards and the voluntary sector are working in partnership using the existing consultative structures in the field of mental handicap to maximise the benefit of this capital programme, together with funding from other sources which may be available to the services.
