Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Stanley for raising this important issue and offering me the opportunity to respond to the House today. The Government is committed to providing services and supports for people with disabilities which will empower them to live independent lives, provide greater independence in accessing the services they choose and enhance their ability to tailor the supports required to meet their needs and plan their lives. This commitment is outlined in A Programme for Partnership Government, which is guided by two principles, namely, equality of opportunity and improving the quality of life for people with disabilities. Acquired Brain Injury Ireland is, as Deputy Stanley stated, a section 39 voluntary organisation which was set up in June 2000 in response to the need for services for people with an acquired brain injury. ABI Ireland aims to enable people with an acquired brain injury to live an independent life in the community by providing and maintaining a supportive living environment. I strongly support its work and I work closely with it.

The HSE funds a range of services across the country for people with acquired brain injury. These services include acute hospital services, the National Rehabilitation Hospital and a range of multidisciplinary services at local level providing rehabilitation in the community to people with acquired brain injury. The HSE also funds a range of long-term assisted living supports, usually contracted by the health service from the non-statutory sector, and rehabilitative training services, which are also usually contracted by the health service from the non-statutory sector. ABI Ireland works in partnership with the HSE to provide a range of flexible and tailor-made services for people with acquired brain injury in direct response to local identified needs. Services provided by ABI Ireland nationwide include 14 assisted living services, home and community rehabilitation and outreach services, day resource services, family support services, home liaison, social work and psychological services and acquired brain injury awareness information training and education programmes.

Turning to the development of neuro-rehabilitation facilities, the national neuro-rehabilitation policy and strategy implementation framework 2019-21 was published by the HSE in February this year. This policy will guide the roll-out and implementation of the national neuro-rehabilitation strategy in the years to come. Discussions are ongoing on the identification of the funding required to implement the framework. That is what is happening at the moment.

While the implementation framework will support the delivery of services to persons with acquired brain injury, it does not concentrate on any one specific diagnosis and aims to reach all people with neuro-rehabilitation requirements. ABI Ireland is funded

under section 39 of the Health Act, as Deputy Stanley mentioned, and is subject to service arrangements. The organisation is scheduled to receive funding from the HSE of €12.6 million in 2019. The HSE and I recognise the value of ABI Ireland's services to people with acquired brain injury. However, further increases in funding can only be considered within the parameters and scope of funding available to the HSE. In the weeks since the budget, we negotiated a HSE service plan with funding of approximately €2 billion. Negotiations are ongoing and in that regard I will take on board the Deputy's proposals because I value the work of ABI Ireland.

See this speech in context