Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)

I thank Deputy Broughan for raising this matter. I am responding on behalf of my colleague Deputy Kathleen Lynch, Minister of State at the Department of Health, who is not in a position to attend today. I will bring Deputy Broughan's concerns to her attention.

Under the Health Act 2004, the HSE is required to manage and deliver, or arrange to be delivered on its behalf, health and personal social services, including disability services. The integral role of the non-statutory agencies such as St. Michael's House is of particular relevance to the provision of health and personal social services to people with a disability. These agencies provide a very significant and broad range of services in partnership with and on behalf of the HSE.

Expenditure on health services for people with a disability in 2011 will be around €1.5 billion, with an overall staffing level of 15,800 whole time equivalents. The majority of that funding is used by the non-statutory agencies providing services, such as St. Michael's House.

The HSE's national service plan for 2011 includes the maintenance of core disability service levels, 9,200 people in residential places, 20,000 day service places, 7,500 people receiving respite residential support and 3.34 million hours of personal assistant or home support hours.

I am very aware of the excellent work done by St. Michael's House, generally and in the north side of Dublin. Its facilities are in my constituency and the Deputy and I regularly have an opportunity to express our appreciation of the outstanding work of the organisation. We know how much this work is valued by our constituents. We are very conscious of the wide range of services St. Michael's House provides, including community-based day, respite, residential and early services for people with an intellectual disability on behalf of the HSE under section 38 of the Health Act 2004. Services are provided through a service level agreement which is reviewed on an annual basis. The HSE provided funding of €72 million to St. Michael's House in 2011.

Expenditure on health services for people with a disability in 2011 will be around €1.5 billion. Special consideration was given to disability and mental health in budget 2011 through a maximum reduction of just 1.8% in the allocation for these two sectors. Nobody wants to see any cuts in this area but it is important to point out that the reduction of 1.8%, which is relatively low by comparison with other reductions under the health budget, recognises that these services are provided to vulnerable groups and should help to ensure that existing services are maintained and that priority is given to the delivery of front line services. The HSE has informed me that it is working closely with service providers in 2011 to ensure the maximum delivery of services in an efficient and effective manner.

The HSE was provided with an additional €10 million for disability services in 2011. Taking the reduction in the overall HSE disability budget into account, the HSE was asked to manage the additional resources and engage with service providers to ensure existing support needs, and demands for additional places and supports, are managed most effectively within the overall allocation.

The level of funding available for the overall health budget is being considered as part of the comprehensive review of expenditure and the Estimates process for 2012, which is currently under way. Deputy Broughan is keen to establish the budgetary position on behalf of St. Michael's House. However, deliberations by the Government on the expenditure allocations for next year are likely to continue until budget time and it would, therefore, not be appropriate for me to comment further at this stage pending the outcome of those deliberations. The very difficult financial position facing the Exchequer will obviously require very careful management of the sector in question.

There is a value-for-money review under way at present and it is expected to be completed by the end of 2011. Notwithstanding that, I note what the Deputy said on the streamlining work that has already been undertaken with St. Michael's House and the efficiencies it has achieved. The review will make recommendations that will ensure the very substantial funding provided to the specialist disability sector is used to the maximum benefit for persons with a disability, having regard to overall severe resource constraints that regrettably affect all sectors at this time.

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