Health minister Paul Goggins announced a 3m action plan followingconcerns about 17 children with severe learning difficulties being held"inappropriately" at a County Antrim hospital (Children Now, 24-30January).
The children - together with 118 adults - have not been discharged fromMuckamore Abbey Hospital because it is too expensive for them to becared for in the community.
Some of the children have been there for 10 years.
Under the Government's plan, no child with a learning disability willlive permanently in a hospital by 2009. A new community-based, 3.5m child and adolescent unit with eight beds is also to befast-tracked for 2008.
However, campaigners have warned the "disappointing" plan was rehashedfrom previous policies and fails to recognise or tackle the scale of theproblem.
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