Dáil debates

Tuesday, 15 November 2016

Mental Health Services Funding: Motion [Private Members]

 

9:45 pm

Photo of Danny Healy-RaeDanny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Mary of the Angels in Beaufort caters for 77 people with very serious mental disabilities but there is a decongregation policy that suggests these people should be left to fend for themselves in community settings. The proposal, however, in this instance will break up a community setting. Sadly, there is no funding for this policy because it cost €600,000 a year to cater for one person. This person was not in a seriously bad way. Another person cost up to €2 million. It is wrong to put him out in the community.

There is not even money for this policy even though hundreds of thousands of euro are spent by managers, advisers and policymakers trying to put this policy together to break up a place like Mary of the Angels. This is shocking. Will the Minister for Health and the Ministers of State go to see the people I am talking about before breaking the place up and disbanding it? The land and the place were given free and it was built up by voluntary fund-raising. It is shocking to think it is about to be taken down. No patients are being taken in there now. This decongregation policy has to be reconsidered because one size does not fit all. It may suit the odd person but it certainly does not suit most of the people in Mary of the Angels. For God’s sake will the Minister and Ministers of State reconsider what they are doing because they do not have a clue what they are doing when they have not seen the people? The policy should be debated in the Dáil and should be applied where it is appropriate.

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