Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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701. To ask the Minister for Health his plans to establish a database for children born with Down's syndrome; if consideration has been given to the benefit which such information gathering could potentially yield, particularly for the planning of both health and educational services, by providing information on trends in demographics, current service use and future service need; if he is aware of the great difficulty which the current absence of such a database creates with regard to adequate service provision and future planning; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20465/15]

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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The Minister for Health has no plans to establish a database for children born with the condition Down Syndrome.

In planning for the delivery of intellectual disability services, the Health Service Executive (HSE) and disability service providers maintain the National Intellectual Disability Database (NIDD). The NIDD, established in 1995, provides a comprehensive database for decision-making in relation to the planning, funding and management of services for people with an intellectual disability. It provides a set of information which outlines the specialised health services currently used or needed by people with an intellectual disability. Participation in the database is voluntary and not every individual in Ireland with an intellectual disability is availing of or requiring a specialised disability health and personal social service. Individuals are registered on the database according to the degree of their intellectual disability, as specialised disability services are provided on the basis of an individual assessment of need.