Máire Hoctor (Tipperary North, Fianna Fail)

I take this Adjournment debate on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Mary Harney. I am pleased to have this opportunity to address the issue raised by the Deputy.

The Department of Health and Children has been informed by the Health Service Executive that the facilities referred to by the Deputy are new Cheshire Ireland supported accommodation which was funded through Wicklow County Council under the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government's capital assistance scheme. I understand the bungalows were handed over to Cheshire Ireland in March this year. The HSE has informed the Department that the persons to whom the new bungalows are to be allocated have been identified through an assessment process undertaken by the executive and Cheshire Ireland. Four people have moved into their new homes.

As part of the multiannual investment programme under the national 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. A further €50 million investment was announced in budget 2008. This funding includes funds for the provision of additional residential places for people with a disability, which would include the residential places in the new Cheshire Ireland bungalows in County Wicklow. The HSE has informed the Department that this funding for additional services for people with a disability is under review in the context of the executive's overall service levels and funding position this year.

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