Mental Deficiency in Northern Ireland

"In Northern Ireland there is no Mental Deficiency Act, no institution, no community supervision and there is only one special school (in Belfast) which is unable to meet even local needs. Apart from the inadequate provision made by the Education Acts and the Poor Relief Acts, the responsibility for dealing with mental defectives has not been placed by statute on any authority and, for the most part, these unfortunate people lead a hopeless existence at home, in poor law institutions or in mental hospitals. The problem of Rental deficiency has, by years of neglect, developed into a grave social evil and we cannot over-emphasize the need for early action to deal with it."