Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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311. To ask the Minister for Health his views on a matter (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46507/18]

Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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I wish to draw the Deputy's attention to the report of the Task Force on Personalised Budgets, which I published on 17 July 2018. The report is available on the Department of Health’s website. The report sets out how personalised budgets could work as a funding mechanism for people with a disability, providing them with greater choice and control over the services and supports they receive.

Having reviewed the national and international research evidence and consulted with service users and their families, the report of the Task Force advocates three different models of how personalised budgets might be accessed by people with disabilities:

1. Person-managed fund, often referred to as Direct payments;

2. Co managed with the service provider; and

3. Broker managed fund.

The rationale for several models is a recognition of the fact that no two people are the same and therefore, ‘one size does not fit all’. The Task Force recommended that the Department of Health and the HSE should establish demonstration projects to test the delivery of personalised budgets. These demonstration projects will test the three models with a view to identifying the best approach to the wider roll-out of these payment models following the initial demonstration phase.

The Department of Health, NDA and the HSE are in the process of designing the demonstration projects, and the Department’s website will be kept updated with information on the roll out of the demonstration projects as it becomes available.