226 Mrs. Fennell asked the Minister for Health if he will outline the plans he has for the mentally handicapped young people at present in St. Ita's Hospital; and if it is his intention to transfer them to another location or to upgrade existing facilities.

The management of St. Ita's Hospital is the responsibility of the Eastern Health Board. The board now provides a separate mental handicap service, called St. Joseph's, for people with mental handicap on the campus of St. Ita's Hospital. Nurses with a mental handicap qualification have been recruited to this service and a post graduate course in mental handicap nursing is being run by the Eastern Health Board under the auspices of An Bord Altranais, for psychiatric nurses who wish to develop their expertise in mental handicap. A comprehensive range of other in-service courses is also being provided for the staff in this field.