Michael McNamara (Clare, Labour)
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353. To ask the Minister for Health the resources currently allocated to the collection of information for the national physical and sensory disability database; his views on the way the database is impacting on the services persons with disabilities receive [37976/14]

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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The National Physical and Sensory Disability Database is managed by the Health Research Board on behalf of the Department of Health. The National Physical and Sensory Disability Database is a set of information that outlines the specialised health services currently used or needed by people with physical/sensory disability. The Database was established in 2002 and there are now more than 27,000 people registered.

Participation in the Database is voluntary and not every individual in Ireland who has a physical/sensory disability is availing of, or requiring, a specialised health and personal social service. The primary focus of the Database is to facilitate service planning and provision; it also aims to record the details of people availing of, or who require, a specialised health and personal social service. It provides a profile of people with physical or sensory disability who: are receiving specialised health and personal social services; are waiting for specialised health and personal services; the type of service they are waiting for and when, in the next five years, they need these services.

The Health Service Executive and service providers are responsible for the collection of the data on the Database. Accordingly the Department has asked the HSE to reply directly to the Deputy in relation to the resources used in collecting the data.