Jimmy Devins (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fianna Fail)

That included six departmental sectoral plans and the co-ordination of the implementation of the Disability Act 2005 and the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004.

I recognise the importance of effective rehabilitation to those who have suffered a stroke or brain injury. I will outline the main steps taken to improve rehabilitation services but I first want to mention the recent establishment of the Office for Disability and Mental Health which will make a significant contribution to the improvement of rehabilitation services, as well as disability services generally. In January the Government announced the establishment of the office to support me as the Minister of State with responsibility for disability and mental health services in exercising my responsibilities across four Departments: Health and Children, Education and Science, Enterprise, Trade and Employment and Justice, Equality and Law Reform. The new office brings together responsibility for a range of policy areas and State services which directly impact on the lives of people with a disability and mental health issues. It aims to bring about improvements in the manner in which services respond to the needs of people with disabilities and mental health issues by working to develop person-centred services, focusing on the holistic needs of clients and service users and actively involving them in their own care.

Substantial progress has been made in recent years in the areas of disability and mental health but much remains to be done. In particular, there is a need to improve co-ordination and communication across Departments and agencies in their delivery of services to this client group. That will be the main focus for the new office. In addition, the development of a national rehabilitation strategy, which I will outline, will be among the key priorities for the office in the months to come. The director of the office is a member of the senior officials group on social inclusion which monitors progress on the Government's commitments regarding social policy, including commitments made in the national disability strategy. The Government has agreed that meetings will be held on a quarterly basis between the four Secretaries General of the relevant Departments, the director of the new office and me to review progress in the priority areas.

The Government's decision to establish the Office for Disability and Mental Health reflects our commitment to developing a more coherent and integrated response to the needs of people with disabilities and mental health issues. It recognises that clients and service users must be at the centre of service delivery and that we may need to examine the way services are delivered to ensure that is and will remain the case. To effectively achieve this requires a cross-departmental, cross-agency response. I was happy to be informed that representatives from some of the main voluntary organisations working in this area were present this evening to listen to the debate and was delighted to meet with most of them in the past few months.

With the establishment of the Office for Disability and Mental Health and the associated attempts by the Government to get the relevant Departments and agencies to work together in a way that will ensure better results for services users, I consider this to be an excellent opportunity to raise the issue of the way voluntary bodies work together. There are a number of excellent organisations striving to achieve similar goals in the area of brain injury and there is significant scope for a merger or alliance between them. The key benefits would be an improved and more integrated service delivery to clients, a stronger, more united voice for service users and last, but not least, a significant reduction in the operating costs involved.

The Government's objective in the coming years is to move the disability agenda to a level which matches that in any other country. We aim to achieve this objective in partnership with all stakeholders, thereby maximising the use of all our resources to promote the full involvement of people with disabilities in the social, economic, political and cultural life of Ireland. The Disability Act is a central element in that process. The Act provides a comprehensive framework for delivering services to people with disabilities, places obligations on State organisations to make buildings and services accessible to people with disabilities, provides for sectoral plans in key service areas which requires public bodies to take positive actions to employ people with disabilities and provides for the establishment of a centre for excellence in universal design. The Act is underpinned by the multiannual investment programme which was announced as part of the 2005 budget. This programme will provide €900 million for services for people with a disability between the years 2006 and 2009. This funding will help to build the additional capacity required to put in place the framework set out in the Disability Act. As part of the multiannual investment programme under the disability strategy, the Government provided the Health Service Executive with an additional €75 million in both 2006 and 2007.

This funding included moneys to provide new and enhanced services for people with disabilities. The Government has also committed to a further €50 million investment in services for people with a disability, as was announced in the budget for 2008. Some examples of the huge investment in health and personal social services being provided under this programme include 8,800 people with a disability receiving care in residential places, with more people living in group homes within their communities than in residential centres. There are 7,200 residential places providing respite care for people with a disability. I was delighted last Friday to open a new respite care centre in Tullaghan in County Donegal for counties Donegal, Leitrim and Sligo. Some 30,000 people with a disability are attending day services and there have been 3 million hours of personal assistance and home supports for people with a physical or sensory disability.

Of course these are more than just statistics. Each one of these hours, and every one of these residential and respite places, are making an important contribution to improving the lives of individuals with disabilities and their families. The national intellectual disability database annual report for 2007 states that 97% of the people registered with the database are in receipt of a service. The report goes on to state there has been significant growth in the level of provision of services to people with an intellectual disability, which reflects the success of the Government's investment programme.

A key initiative in the area of rehabilitation is the commitment by the Department of Health and Children and the HSE to the development of a national strategy for the provision of medical rehabilitation services. A number of issues will be considered as part of this, including an assessment of the need, the structure and location of facilities and services and the nature of the rehabilitation facilities, that is, whether they should be hospital type, step down or preparation for independent living.

Neurosurgery plays a key role in the rehabilitative process for many individuals with acquired brain injury. The Comhairle na nOspidéal report on neurosurgery from 2006 recommended the future development of safe, high quality neurosurgical services in Ireland would be best served by increasing capacity in Dublin and Cork and by improving access to neurosurgical units, including improved transport and telemedicine facilities for referring hospitals.

The report identified a need for additional investment in neurosurgical services and in the planning and commissioning of such services on a national basis. The Health Service Executive has invested in the expansion of the service at Beaumont Hospital over the past number of years, and the Minister has outlined this investment.

The Government has recognised the need for the development of improved services for those with acquired brain injury.

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