asked the Minister for Health if, in view of his statement in his written reply to Parliamentary Question No. 255 of 16 February 1983 that health boards which do not provide facilities for homeless persons subvent voluntary and religious organisations which run hostels and shelters, he is satisfied that the levels of subvention to these organisations are sufficient to enable them to meet the needs of homeless persons; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

20.

asked the Minister for Health if, in view of his statement in his written reply to Parliamentary Question No. 255 of 16 February 1983 in which he stated that health boards are responsible for providing shelter and maintenance for persons who are unable to provide it for themselves, he is aware that not all health boards accept this responsibility; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 19 and 20 together.

The levels of subvention given by health boards to organisations that care for homeless people would appear to me to be, in general, reasonable bearing in mind the many other demands on their resources. In many instances health board grants go towards topping up funding from other sources. It would be impossible to claim that all the needs of homeless people can be met through health board grant aid to voluntary and religious organisations. The problems of homelessness are many-faceted and can only be tackled through joint commitment, co-operation and resource input by the various statutory, voluntary and religious organisations involved.

I am not aware of any instance of a health board failing to accept responsibility for providing shelter and maintenance for eligible people. Health boards are obliged under section 54 of the Health Act, 1953, to give institutional assistance to eligible people to the extent that appears to them to be necessary or proper in each particular case. The arrangements for meeting this obligation vary from health board to health board in so far as the type of accommodation in which shelter and maintenance is provided is concerned.

If the Deputy has any particular instance in mind where he feels that a health board might have made better provision I would be glad if he would let me have some information about it.

The series of questions down on this matter arise from a written reply I received in February which, to my knowledge, was inaccurate in many respects. Would the Minister not agree that the subvention to the Simon Community in the Dublin area has fallen from 25 per cent of their expenditure in 1970 to slightly less than 3 per cent in 1982 and for the Cork area from 32 per cent of their expenditure in 1977 to 13 per cent in 1982? This seems to indicate inadequate funding by the health boards of voluntary agencies.

A question, please, Deputy.

The Minister dealt with two subventions in his reply.

Question Time has concluded and the Deputy might bear that in mind.

Perhaps we could have an extension for a few moments to cover these questions. Question No. 20 dealt with health boards not accepting their responsibility. I am informed that the Simon Community told the previous holder of that office——

That is not a question.

I am leading up to a question. In 1982 there were ten men living rough in the Carlow area for whom the health board did not accept responsibility, and up to recently there were four men in that area living rough for whom the health board did not accept responsibility. The only care they received was from a voluntary religious organisation which provided them with food. What does the Minister intend doing about that situation?

There can be no more supplementary questions because Question Time is over but the Minister may answer that question.

I accept that the situation in Carlow is unsatisfactory and I have asked the health board to make more positive arrangements. The extent of voluntary commitment in the Carlow town area is limited unfortunately and the health board, together with local Christian voluntary organisations, are endeavouring to make arrangements, but the Sisters have considerable difficulty in making suitable arrangements. In the south-eastern region there are 117 places for homeless persons, not as many as we would wish, and Carlow is about the only black spot in the country.

The remaining questions will appear on tomorrow's Order Paper.