Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 62: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if she will confirm the number of children who were sent to the Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum, Dublin 14 for misbehaving while in child care institutions; and the number who subsequently died in the Central Mental Hospital and were cremated without the knowledge and consent of their families. [24100/10]

John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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Prior to the implementation of the Mental Health Act 2001, admissions to the Central Mental Hospital (CMH) were governed by Section 207 of the Mental Treatment Act 1945 which provided for the transfer of a person detained in a district mental hospital to the CMH, where in the opinion of the Justice of the District Court, such person had committed an offence and would, if placed on trial, be unfit to plead. Strict legal procedures applied to admissions to the CMH; I am advised that misbehaving in a childcare institution, never constituted grounds for admission to the hospital. The Deputy may also wish to note that there was never a crematorium in the CMH.

If the Deputy has continuing concerns, I am happy to facilitate a visit to the CMH and for the Deputy to examine the admission registers.