David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 177: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the funding and expenditure allocated to all four elements of the national disability strategy as per its announcement on 21 September 2004; the amount allocated and expended under each element each year to date; the amount expected to be allocated in 2009 and 2010; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19422/09]

John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The National Disability Strategy supports and reinforces equal participation in society of people with disabilities and comprises five elements: the Disability Act 2005; the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004; the Citizens Information Act 2007; sectoral plans published in 2006 by six Government Departments and a commitment to a multi-annual investment programme for disability support services of €900 million for the period 2006-2009 across all Government Departments.

As part of the Multi-Annual Investment Programme 2006-2009 under the Disability Strategy, the Government provided the Health Service Executive (HSE) with an additional €100 million in both 2006 and 2007. This funding included monies to provide new and enhanced services for people with disabilities, to implement Part 2 of the Disability Act 2005, which came into effect on June 1st 2007 for the under fives and also for the continuation of the implementation of the transfer of persons with intellectual disability from psychiatric hospitals and other inappropriate placements.

The Government also honoured its promise in relation to the multi-annual investment programme for people with disabilities, with a further €50 million investment in the 2008 budget. The Government emphasised its commitment to people with disabilities by allocating an additional €10 million in budget 2009 to enable the services provided to children with special educational needs to be enhanced and strengthened.

The additional €10 million allocated to the HSE will provide for 125 additional therapy posts in the disability and mental health services, targeted at children of school-going age. Of this, an additional 90 posts will be provided in the disability services area, to include speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists and psychologists for children's disability services. There will be 35 additional posts for the child and adolescent mental health services, including clinical psychologists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists and social workers for new and existing multi-disciplinary teams.

In relation to the figures for expenditure, I have referred the Deputy's question to the Health Service Executive for direct reply.