Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
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Cuirím fáilte roimhe an Aire Stáit. The Minister of State will be aware that after the budget, a €100 million health sector winter fund was announced to deal with various emergency costs. This would be particularly targeted at section 39 providers to meet some of their costs. The Ministers of State, Deputies Rabbitte, Butler and Feighan have identified some of the organisations that could benefit from this. We know about them all around the country, including, in my own area, St. Aidan's Services in Gorey. Some of it is about addressing capacity issues but some of it is designed to meet the cost-of-living crisis we all face. Some of it is to deal with the rising energy costs.

The challenge is that the €100 million has been announced but we do not have any detail of it yet. It is meant to be a winter fund. I am not quite sure when winter is regarded as starting but from the drips in the Chamber here and in the other Chamber yesterday, and from what I experienced on the way home to Wexford last night, we are certainly not in the middle of summer or spring. It is important that we get clarity on that €100 million in regard to how its allocation is going to be determined, how section 39 organisations will be able to apply or will receive some of the funding and where it will go. Is it going to be for addressing capacity issues? Will it be around addressing the ongoing increased costs that everybody is facing? Will it be towards energy costs? What about the case of the staff? This has been an issue for a number of section 39 and other organisations, namely, addressing some of the salary concerns. Workers within the section 39 system often do the same work as their equivalents within the HSE but are paid less. Will some of the funding be directed towards that? At this stage it is important that we get clarity particularly for those section 39 organisations. I would be grateful if the Minister of State would provide us with more detail.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Malcolm Byrne for raising this important matter and for giving the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, the opportunity to respond with more detail on the status of the €100 million package. I would like to say that the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, was delighted to secure the €100 million additional funding this year. It will provide a one-off non-pay inflation support payment to community-based voluntary organisations. These organisations are funded through the HSE to deliver a range of health and social care services on behalf of the HSE to communities throughout the country. This includes residential, day and ancillary services for people with a disability, older people, mental health services, palliative care services, addiction services and other health and social care services provided in the community. The Minister is very aware that many of these organisations are experiencing significant inflationary pressures as a result of increasing energy, heating and related costs.This fund is being made available in recognition of the challenges being faced by the sector in delivering and maintaining these key health and social care services. I hope it will provide the much-needed support to assist them in maintaining these important services.

Officials in the Department of Health are currently working on finalising a plan that will ensure the fund is allocated in a fair and transparent manner. It is proposed that the fund will be administered by the HSE, utilising the mechanism in place for funding eligible organisations in receipt of service level and grant aid agreements. As these arrangements are already in place with organisations, this will ensure that payments are processed and disseminated in a speedy and timely fashion. It is the Minister for Health's intention that payments will be made as soon as possible within the next month and that all payments will be made by the year end. Once the aforementioned plan has been finalised, the Minister will set out in detail the scope and mechanisms around the payments to these organisations, subject to the approval of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. Department of Health officials will continue to engage directly with their colleagues in the HSE to ensure that these payments are made as soon as possible.

Funding will be allocated through the established mechanism of the temporary assistance payment scheme to providers of long-term residential care who participate in the nursing home support scheme. This will ensure that payments can be made quickly and I have no doubt that this will be very much welcomed by the sector. I again thank the Senator for raising this matter.

Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I welcome the announcement of this funding but unfortunately, I do not share the Minister of State's confidence that the HSE will be able to allocate it as quickly as possible, particularly as many working in the sector are still waiting for their €1,000 Covid-related bonus payment to which they are entitled. I would be grateful for further guarantees in this regard. I accept it is the Minister's intention that the payments be made quickly but I seek further guarantees that all of these payments will be made within the next month. Can the Department say to all of the organisations that do wonderful work in all of our communities that by the end of November they will have received some of these payments? There are already mechanisms in place for working out how funding is allocated to these organisations so it cannot be too difficult to draw up a plan, particularly given the costs. The Minister of State has indicated that payments will be made by the end of November but I am looking for an assurance that this will happen.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I again thank the Senator for raising this very important matter. There are so many valuable community organisations that rely on departmental funding. Obviously, it would be foolish of me to give a commitment regarding an area for which I have no responsibility, but I will raise the issue with the Minister for Health. As the departmental reply indicates, the Minister expects this to be done within the next month and guarantees that it will be done by the end of the year. Those are his words, not mine.