Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 242: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the reason €38 million has been diverted from the disability budget since January 2007; the location this money was spent in other areas of the health service; the cutbacks that were made in the disability budget because of this €38 million diminution; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42387/08]

Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 243: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if disabled people without personal assistance have been placed on a second waiting list due to the diversion of this €38 million. [42388/08]

John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 242 and 243 together.

My Department has requested the Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Health Service Executive to arrange to have a reply issued directly to the Deputy in relation to Disability expenditure in 2007. In the 2008 Budget, €50m was provided to the Health Service Executive (HSE) to fund a range of additional services under the Multi Annual Investment Programme for Disability. Although the commencement of the planned developments in disability services this year had been delayed due to a financial review, I am pleased to inform you that the Executive has informed the Department of Health and Children that it is now in the process of rolling out the planned developments, including 200,000 additional personal assistant/home support hours. A total of 3.2 million hours of personal assistant/home support are provided each year by the HSE to people with a disability.

The HSE had indicated that due to the delayed start to some of these developments it expects to spend €33m of the €50m by the end of 2008. The resulting €17m time related savings were included in this Department's budgetary consolidation measures announced to the House in July 2008. In Budget 2009, an additional €10 million was allocated to the HSE for services in the area of disability and mental health. The funding for 2009 will provide for 125 additional therapy posts in the disability and mental health services area, targeted at children of school going age. The additional funding for 2009 will also provide for, once-off funding of €1.75m for suicide prevention initiatives and for mental health projects supporting service users and carers.