Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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301. To ask the Minister for Health the current statutory position of the provision of personal budgets as an alternative to institutional care for vulnerable adults. [9192/17]

Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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The requirement to make statutory provision for personalised budgets will be examined by the Task Force on Personalised Budgets which I established in September 2016, in line with a commitment in the Programme for Government. I have asked the Task Force to report to me by the end of 2017 with a recommended approach and an implementation strategy for the introduction of personalised budgets.

The goal of the Task Force is to support people with disabilities to live independent lives in the community and to facilitate their own choices and decisions in relation to the support services they receive. As well as any legislative changes which may be necessary, recommendations on what will be covered by personalised budgets is among the issues which the Task Force has been asked to address.

The Task Force includes officials from the relevant Government Departments and agencies, HSE, academic and policy experts, stakeholder organisations and a wide range of people with lived experience of disability and disability services (both intellectual and physical). A wider Reference Group has also been established, and this Group will be consulted directly at key points throughout the process.

A Project Initiation Document and Work Plan were identified as key early deliverables and have now been finalised, and are published on the Department of Health website. The Work Plan identifies seven work streams and sets out lead partners and an ambitious timeframe for each one. A number of these work streams are currently being progressed in parallel. It is planned that the Task Force will:

- issue a report setting out the evidence, analysis and preferred options in relation to each of the matters under its Terms of Reference;

- propose an approach and implementation pathway with timetable for delivery;

- outline any legislative changes that may be required.