Margaret Murphy O'Mahony (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)
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480. To ask the Minister for Health his views on ring-fencing 8% to 15% of the Health Service Executive disability budget, currently governed by service level agreements, for individualised and community based models supports; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21106/16]

Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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Funding of €1.56 billion was allocated by the Government this year for health-funded services and supports to enable each individual with a disability to achieve their full potential and maximise their independence. Together with the additional €31 million which I obtained on 8th June 2016, the total allocation for Disability Services in 2016 is now €1.59 billion.

In line with Government policy, the HSE’s National Service Plan outlines targets and priorities for delivering an increasing proportion of services and supports which are individualised, person-centred and community-based with this funding. The Government’s policy is this area is embodied in Transforming Lives, which is the programme to implement the Report of the Value for Money and Policy Review of Disability Services in Ireland.

As part of the incremental implementation of Transforming Livespeople with disabilities are becoming supported to make the type of choices about their lives which are available to everyone else in society. This new approach will be underpinned by a more effective method of assessing need, allocating resources and monitoring resource use.

One element of this process is the establishment of the Task Force on Personalised Budgets, which I am currently in the process of setting up. Any proposal to ring fence a portion of HSE disability services' expenditure and allocating it to personalised budgets may form part of the deliberations of the Task Force and will be considered on foot of any recommendations which may be made by the Task Force in this area. I anticipate that I will be in a position to announce further details relating to the establishment of the Task Force by the end of this month.