Dr. Emer Begley:

We were involved a project, called UNIC, that published its final reports a couple of years ago. It looked at personalised budgeting across European countries. There are models in other countries, for instance, in The Netherlands. In Flanders specifically, all community disability supports are through a personalised budgeting model. It is not perfect. They transitioned to that model in 2017 and it happened too quickly. They have a cash or voucher system. They have an agency that manages it all. It sits separately from service provision. They undertake the needs assessment. In the first year, they support co-ordination of services and supports and they can look after financial management. It is not perfect because there are delays with reassessment when need changes and there are long waiting lists for that. In Germany, they have a personalised budget system. That is based on individual needs. It can be used not only for PA but for mobility, rehabilitation and housing-related supports that promote participation and independent living. It is, as Deputy Ó Murchú said, connected to the cost of disability. As Mr. Doyle said, it is in addition to existing services. In the Netherlands, it is not in addition to existing services; it is the funding model that supports delivery.