Mr. John Dolan:

I can understand the angst in regard to direct service provision at this time. Part of this is community engagement, participation and involvement. The great majority of organisations in the disability area receive little funding from the HSE while others receive larger amounts of money. In saying that, I am not being critical. Many of the smaller community-based organisations are also poking at outcomes for people because they are going beyond the HSE. I gave an example in this regard about the local authorities engaging with schools. There was huge concern in the past about inputs and the amount of money being spent in this regard. We need to get smart about getting bang for our buck.

The real outcomes for spend in health is the return of students to school and people being able to live their lives and get jobs in their communities. There is a need for greater focus on outcomes. The disability strategy is the obvious place to state our objectives, regardless of how long it might take us to achieve them. What we want is not to have people in day care for the remainder of their lives but to be engaged in development programmes which assist them in returning to their communities and getting jobs.