I know the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Martin, is acquainted with hyp eractive attention deficit disorder and attention deficit disorder from his term in the Department of Education and Science and this is recognised by the relevant groups. Representations have been made to the Department and these were responded to in a letter sent to Mary Farrell on 21 February. The Minister has allocated £30,000 to a national review of this issue. The problem I wish to bring to the attention of the House is that these two groups have funded themselves in recent years without any assistance from the Eastern Health Board or the Department of Health and Children. The people involved have used their homes, telephones, faxes and so on to liaise with families who have problems with these disorders and with the Department of Health and Children. They have been acting as intermediaries between the relevant organisations and the Department of Health and Children, without receiving any reimbursement. They are not looking for salaries but for a refund of their expenses. They have now reached their limit. The Southern Health Board has funded the Munster group but the Eastern Health Board or the Department has not done the same for the Leinster group.
These disorders are a major problem and this is reflected in gross absenteeism from primary and secondary schools, although schools and parents are often unable to diagnose the difficulty. Some of the children involved have been brought before the courts – I see the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy O'Donoghue is present. Testing and psychiatric care are unavailable. I appreciate the Minister has only recently taken up this portfolio. However, he was active in working for these groups when he was in the Department of Education and Science and I know this will continue in his current office.
I am asking for the provision of facilities for these groups in the short-term. I spoke to Brid Clarke of the Eastern Health Board regarding this matter and an office in Carmichael House is being made available. However, I ask the Minister to look at the funding of the groups immediately. He has allocated funding for a national review of the disorders by chief executive officers of the health boards. Given the good work done by these two groups, I ask that officials from the Minister's Department meet the groups, ascertain their problems and ensure these facilities continue to be provided for the families affected. I would like the Department of Education and Science, the Department of Health and Children and the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform to work together on this serious problem which affects 5% of the children on the national school register. I ask the Minister to ensure a meeting takes place soon to make provisions similar to those he made when he was Minister for Education and Science.