Vol. 534 No. 1
79 Mr. Perry asked the Minister for Health and Children his views on claims by a social worker in Temple Street Children's Hospital that more than 100 abused children were accommodated in hospitals in 2000 due to the fact there was no place for them in residential units or foster homes. [9974/01]
These types of cases are generally known as social admissions.
Information supplied by health boards indicates that approximately 21 children were placed as social admissions in hospital beds in the Midland, the North Eastern and South Eastern Health Boards in 2000. These three boards have indicated that these placements were made in emergency situations and were short term: not all of the children so placed were in the care of the relevant health board.
Information in respect of the Eastern Regional Health Authority area boards and the Southern Health Board is not yet to hand and I will communicate further with the Deputy when it is available. The other health boards, that is, the Mid-Western, the North Western and the Western Health Boards, have indicated that they did not make any such placements in 2000.
The Deputy may wish to note that health boards are continuing to develop prevention and early intervention measures together with a range of family support services to minimise the need for children coming into care. Where children require care outside of their family for a period of time, health boards provide foster care and residential care services.
Since this Government came into office it has invested an additional £90 million in revenue in the child welfare and protection services. This has allowed for very significant improvements in the services and these improvements will continue. In particular, substantial additional funding has been made available to health boards in 2001 to support vulnerable children by targeting and assisting families identified as needing particular support and for the development of foster care, emergency accommodation and residential care.
