Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Ferris for raising this matter and I am pleased to take this opportunity, on behalf of my colleague the Minister for State, Deputy Lynch, who cannot be here this afternoon, to outline the position on the Kerry Parents and Friends Association. I recognise the valuable contribution the Kerry Parents and Friends Association makes to the provision of services to people with intellectual disabilities in the area. As has been stated, these services include community-based day, residential and support services for more than 250 adults with an intellectual disability and their families in various locations throughout Kerry.

Kerry Parents and Friends Association is funded by the HSE under section 39 of the Health Act. Services are provided through a service arrangement, which is signed on an annual basis and reviewed continually. The agency received funding of €8 million from the HSE in 2012.

As Deputy Martin Ferris will be aware, due to the current economic situation, which was not of the making of this Government, the HSE must manage service levels within the fixed financial allocation provided by Government as set out in the memorandum of understanding. As outlined in the HSE service plan for 2012, the funding allocated to disability services was reduced by 3.7%. The service plan also stated that at least 2% of this should not impact on services and needed to be generated from other savings and increased efficiencies in an attempt to protect front-line services. That, in effect, mean there would be a reduction of 1.7% on front-line services.

The HSE's national consultative forum, which has wide stakeholder representation at national and regional level, meets regularly and identifies and agrees frameworks for addressing efficiencies, with clear actions and outcomes to address required savings outlined in the 2012 national service plan across the disability sector with minimal impact on front-line services. The HSE's objective is to ensure that residential, day, respite and personal assistant services are protected where possible from reductions in front-line services.

The HSE south disability office works closely with Kerry Parents and Friends Association which provides a range of services for adults with intellectual disabilities in County Kerry. The HSE liaises with the association on an ongoing basis to ensure changes in service and the impact of these on their clients is discussed and agreed in advance.

On the budgetary situation for 2013, the HSE is aware that the Kerry Parents and Friends Association management team has been holding meetings with parents and clients on potential changes in service in the future. Pending completion of the national Estimates, budgetary and service planning process for 2013, it is not possible to identify how services will be impacted in 2013. At this point, there is no agreement with Kerry Parents and Friends Association or any other service provider on the budget for next year. The HSE has informed me that it will continue to work closely with Kerry Parents and Friends Association to ensure available resources are used in a creative and flexible manner in order to be more responsive to the needs that present.

The health service as a whole must operate within the parameters of funding available to it and, given the current economic environment, this has become a major challenge for all stakeholders, including the HSE, voluntary service providers, services users and their families. However, by working together through the national consultative forum and finding innovative ways to maximise how we use resources, we can help to protect front-line services appropriately.

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