asked the Minister for Health the plans, if any, to subsidise the cost of small luxury items purchased by long stay patients in psychiatric hospitals.

Patients in psychiatric hospitals in receipt of social welfare allowances are permitted to retain portion of such income for their own use. Health boards also pay allowances to patients in such hospitals for work done as part of rehabilitation and industrial therapy. Allowances are also paid to non-working patients with no income of their own.

The practice as regards payment of these allowances varies between the health boards and following a recent discussion which I have had with representatives of the psychiatric nurses I am examining the matter with a view to having a more standard approach.

Will the Minister say why welfare benefits, allowances to patients, are taken from them? Under what Act is this done?

That is a separate question.

I do not think so.

The allowances paid to patients are taken as payment for their maintenance in the institution.

I wonder is that constitutional?

The question is concerned with the allowance which patients are allowed to have for their own use.

What percentage is that?

Is it legal in the first instance to take their legal entitlement from them and to give back a portion of it? I very much doubt the legal validity of the system.

It is legal and in accordance with the statutory provisions. What is more important is that there should be a reasonable allowance for patients and that this should be standardised throughout the country. It is not standardised at the moment.

(Cavan-Monaghan): I appreciate that patients receiving social welfare benefits are allowed to retain a small portion of them for their own use. Did I understand the Minister to say that patients who are not entitled to any such social welfare benefits also get an allowance? If they were at home they would certainly qualify for a disabled person's allowance.

Yes. What I said was "allowances are also paid to nonworking patients with no income of their own".

(Cavan-Monaghan): Would the Minister give me any idea as to the sort of allowances paid?

They vary from £2 to £5 per week.

(Cavan-Monaghan): Would the Minister make sure that they get at least as much as the patients in receipt of benefits are allowed to retain?

That is what I have in mind. The psychiatric nurses made strong representations about this recently and what we are doing at the moment is finding out from the institutions what is paid, so that we can standardise the amount paid.

(Cavan-Monaghan): That would be a move in the right direction. The Minister will appreciate that it must be bad for some patients to have no money at all and to see their fellow patients with some.