asked the Minister for Health if he will make a statement on the report of the Medico-Social Research Board regarding the incidence of Down's syndrome in this country.

The Census of the Mentally Handicapped carried out by the Medico-Social Research Board in 1974 found 2,959 cases of Down's syndrome representing a prevalence rate of 1 per 1,000 of the total population. This compares unfavourably with prevalence rates established by similar studies carried out in other countries.

My Department has been in contact with the Medico-Social Research Board with a view to establishing a research project into the causation of Down's syndrome. Discussions on this matter are proceeding.