Vol. 554 No. 5
891 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Health and Children the level of funding being given to the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association; and his plans to increase this level of funding as requested by the association. [17858/02]
The Motor Neurone Disease Association received funding of £98,999 from the Northern Area Health Board in 2001, as per the association's financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2001. The association did not receive any funding from the other health boards. My Department has not given funding direct to the Motor Neurone Disease Association. However, €48,000 was allocated in 2002 to the Eastern Regional Health Authority for the purpose of assisting the association.
The provision of additional funding to organisations providing health services for people with disabilities is a matter for the health boards in the first instance. Any application for funding to a health board is entirely a matter for the relevant health board, in this case the South-Eastern Health Board. My Department has therefore asked the chief executive officer of the board to investigate the final matter raised by the Deputy and reply to him directly.
