Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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I welcome the opportunity to speak on the urgent need to assist and develop services at Prosper Fingal. I am sharing time with Deputy Terence Flanagan whom I thank and commend for his support on this urgent matter.

I call on the Minister for Health and Children to examine the critical needs of the individuals and their carers helped at Prosper Fingal. This debate is about protecting the vulnerable, assisting those with a disability and getting our priorities right. We can go on about finance, resources and the economy but this debate is important if we are to protect the most vulnerable and their families. We must do the right thing and, if needs be, the strong and the wealthy must take the hit and provide resources for groups such as Prosper Fingal.

I have received many letters from parents on this urgent matter. One such letter sums it up. It reads:

Dear Finian,

As a parent of a young man of 23 who has Down's syndrome, I am extremely worried as to what the future holds for him. He has just completed a three year independent skills training programme with Prosper Fingal services but we are now hearing that no funding will be provided for a continued day service come 2009.

I cannot bear to think what this will mean for him having built up his self esteem and independence over the years. However, this independence is only a basic human right and does not extend itself to him being in a position to put himself on the open market for employment or making the decision to move to another country to seek employment. Therefore remaining in the service of Prosper Fingal is of the utmost importance to him.

How can we tell him come September that there is no place for him because of a lack of funding? He has built up a wonderful relationship with all members of staff and has developed a lovely network of friends. It would be heartbreaking for him and for us if this service were to be withdrawn.

I am appealing to you to plead on his behalf for adequate funding to make sure this does not happen.

The bottom line is that Prosper Fingal provides a service for 233 individuals and their carers. It is a not-for-profit organisation, a registered charity and funded by the HSE. In total, there are 35 people seeking long-term day services from Prosper Fingal in 2009. There are also eight individuals receiving residential crisis services. There has been a 3% cut in the overall budget and the group will work with the HSE in any way possible to manage demand. I urge the Minister and the HSE to fund and support Prosper Fingal.

Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this issue and thank Deputy Finian McGrath for stating the facts about Prosper Fingal. It is a not-for-profit organisation which is funded by the HSE and provides an extensive range of services for 233 adults with intellectual disabilities in north County Dublin, as well as respite, day, residential, clinical, advisory and transport services which are delivered at eight locations in Fingal - Malahide, Rush, Skerries, Piercetown, Portmarnock, Balbriggan and Swords.

The Minister has reduced the budget for the organisation by 3%, which is scandalous. Indications show that no funding will be provided for service development this year. If the service development funding is withdrawn, 24 adults who depend on the services of Proper Fingal will be devastated. They will also lose their long-term service placements and will be sentenced to spending their lives at homes with their family supports. In addition, 11 other individuals who require a long-term place will be denied a place.

The 24 people affected are young adults who have benefited enormously from the help they have received to date from Proper Fingal. They have learned new skills and have gained independence. For these young adults to progress, they need and rely on their place in Prosper Fingal. They need to continue receiving the great benefits they have received to date. Prosper Fingal not only provides essential skills but a social element for these young people. It gives them a sense of purpose, a sense of responsibility and a quality of life.

Like Deputy Finian McGrath, I have received numerous items of correspondence concerning this matter in recent weeks. Many parents are angry and extremely concerned about these cutbacks. The Minister needs to seriously reconsider this matter, having regard to all the money that was squandered here during the last ten to 15 years. The money spent on the electronic voting machines is one such example. All we are seeking is for the Minister to continue to fund Prosper Fingal. It is not expensive to do so. The average cost in respect of each person is €20,000 per annum. If funding is cut, the long-term costs of providing full-time residential places will a much more costly.

I want the Minister of State to give us positive news that he will continue to properly fund Prosper Fingal and that he will look after these people and not give up on them. Such people are forgotten about in some instances. Not enough funding is being allocated to help people with intellectual disabilities. I hope that the Minister of State will look after these people and give us a positive response.

John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney. I am pleased also to have this opportunity to address the issues raised by Deputies Finian McGrath and Terence Flanagan.

I want to re-affirm the Government's steadfast commitment to people with disabilities in Ireland and to the national disability strategy and its long-term goals and objectives, which we will continue to pursue in the coming years in partnership with all the key stakeholders. The co-ordination and planning of services to meet the needs of people with disabilities form a central tenet of the national disability strategy. A critical element of such co-ordination and planning is the requirement to provide financial support for the developments and implementation of services.

Since 2005, the Government has provided significant additional resources for services and supports for effecting real change in the development of services for people with disabilities. The multi-annual investment programme, which was a key component of the Government's disability strategy, had, by the end of 2008, provided for the intellectual disability services 804 new residential places, 307 new respite places and 1,863 new day places. It terms of services for people with physical and sensory disabilities, 307 new residential places and 911,626 extra home care personal assistance hours have been provided. A total of 406 places in the intellectual disability residential service have been enhanced, 61 respite places have been enhanced while 43 residential places in the physical and sensory disability services have been enhanced. In addition, almost 195 day places have had their services enhanced with the provision of additional supports to allow the organisations to deal with school leavers or other adults with significant disabilities.

The HSE and voluntary disability service providers are working together to ensure that all the existing resources available for specialist disability services are used in the most effective manner possible. In the current challenging economic environment there is a responsibility on all publicly funded services to review the way in which services are delivered and to ensure resources are used to maximum effect. This also applies to disability service providers in the statutory and the non-statutory sector, including Prosper Fingal.

The overall allocation to voluntary disability service providers in the health Vote was reduced in 2009 by 1% - similar to the 1% reduction in 2008 - as part of an overall efficiency measure within the health services. In addition, in the context of the general economic situation and the financial pressure on HSE budgets, the HSE has been required to implement a further 1% budget reduction to all voluntary agencies since the start of the year.

As Deputies are aware, Prosper Fingal has developed a wide range of service options that are both centre and community-based, including day services, training, employment placement, residential and non-residential respite, residential support, clinical, community outreach and transport services. Prosper Fingal is currently supporting 220 clients with an intellectual disability and their families.

All service providers, including Prosper Fingal, have been asked by the HSE to review all non-frontline expenditure, in particular, staff travel, expenditure on conferences and seminars, and advertising to ensure maximum value from the procurement of goods and services. There is also a requirement on all providers to review the way in which services are delivered, for example, to examine opportunities for amalgamating services or back office supports and reduction or elimination of expenditure on overtime and-or agency staffing.

I further understand that the HSE has put in place a partnership process with the umbrella groups representing the voluntary sector in the context of the difficulties presenting in delivering disability services in 2009. The purpose of the group includes ensuring that the required budget reductions are implemented in a manner designed to minimise the impact on service users. The HSE has also confirmed that while there is no specific funding in 2009 for the development of new services, there will be a requirement for all stakeholders to plan to meet the needs of individuals who require services on an emergency basis.

The HSE and non-statutory providers are working together to identify how the needs of these individuals, who require services on an emergency basis in 2009, can be responded to within available resources. The aim is to agree how service providers - statutory and non-statutory - and HSE management can plan and provide for emergency requirements at local and regional level. This will involve a collaborative approach at local health office and area level in dealing with emergency situations, development of criteria for identifying emergency needs in a consistent manner across all service providers, identification of capacity to increase provision within existing resources, reviewing existing service arrangements in the context of appropriate response and service efficiency and delivering responses to meet requirements.

I take this opportunity to emphasise the Government's commitment to people with disabilities and to the strategy and its long-term goals and objectives, which we will continue to pursue in the coming years in partnership with all the key stakeholders.