Written answers

Thursday, 18 June 2015

Department of Health

Services for People with Disabilities

Photo of Colm KeaveneyColm Keaveney (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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214. To ask the Minister for Health if he is aware of the financial difficulties being faced by charitable bodies that are service providers to persons with intellectual disabilities, and that are exasperated by their efforts to negotiate their deficits with the Health Service Executive; if he has had any direct involvement with the executive to resolve this situation; his plans to take measures to address this problem; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24345/15]

Photo of Kathleen LynchKathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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Under the Health Act 2004, the Health Service Executive (HSE) is required to manage and deliver, or arrange to be delivered on its behalf, health and personal social services, including disability services. The HSE either directly provides or contracts disability service providers to provide a range of disability services through a service level arrangement (SLA).

The Government is committed to protecting frontline health and personal social services needs for people with disabilities. The Government currently provides funding of approximately €1.5 billion to the Disability Services Programme through the Health Service Executive's National Service Plan for 2015.

The HSE works with voluntary disability service providers to ensure that available resources are used in order to be responsive to the health and personal social services needs of people with a disability.

In 2015, the HSE is seeking to maximise the provision of services within available resources and to maintaining a consistent level to that provided in 2014, by providing the following specialist disability services:

- residential services to around 9,000 people with a disability;

- day services to over 22,000 people with intellectual and physical disabilities;

- respite residential support of 190,000 overnights for people with intellectual and physical disabilities;

- 3.9 million hours of Personal Assistant / Home Support Hours.

Additional funding of €6 million has been allocated in the HSE National Service Plan in 2015 to provide day places for an estimated 1,400 young people finishing school and rehabilitative (life-skills) training. €4m in additional funding has also been allocated in the Plan to deliver an increase in the services for children with disabilities and reduce waiting lists under the Progressing Disability Services for Children and Young People (0-18s) Programme.

Pending completion of the national estimates, budgetary and service planning process, it is not possible to predict the service levels to be provided in 2016 for the disability sector.

In relation to the specific queries raised by the Deputy, as these are service issues, they have been referred to the HSE for direct reply. If the Deputy has not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days, he can contact my Private Office and they will follow up the matter with the HSE.

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