Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 429: To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the cost per patient of residential care for children with challenging behaviour on an annual basis as provided by private suppliers and as supplied by the Health Service Executive. [28676/11]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Children who are in the care of the state and who have challenging behaviour are usually cared for in high support units. When considering the appropriate placement for a child, social workers consider the milieu into which a young person is being placed. The choice of placement is not solely on the basis of presenting behaviours, but can be for a multitude of other reasons such as, those with underlying physical/ intellectual disability and/or a mental health issues or other wider family environmental and attachment issues. The unit needs to be able to meet the full range of physical, therapeutic and care needs of a child. With respect to your question regarding the cost per patient in such units on an annual basis, this has been referred to the HSE for direct reply.