Written answers

Wednesday, 16 December 2020

Department of Health

Disability Support Services

Photo of Joe CareyJoe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

315. To ask the Minister for Health when he will legislate for personal assistance services as a right in law as per the motion unanimously supported by Dáil Éireann on 29 November 2019; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43834/20]

Photo of Anne RabbitteAnne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Deputy refers to the motion put before the previous (32nd) Dail that seeks to ensure that the Government signs the optional protocol of the United Nation Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD) and create a "commissioner for independent living" to ensure that rights given under the UNCRPD regarding Personal Assistants are delivered to people with Disabilities.

Regarding the signing of the optional protocol, the Department of Justice had recommended that the Government would not consider opting into the Optional Protocol until the first reporting cycle of the Convention has been completed. That will provide a clearer picture of the obligations arising under the Convention and the Optional Protocol. Ireland has recently submitted its first national report, and our appearance before the UN Committee is likely to take place in mid 2022.

Regarding the provision of Personal assistance services for people with Disabilities, the Deputy will be aware that the area of disability services is a priority area for this Government. To support people with a disability, significant resources have been invested by the health sector in disability services, and the Government has ensured that an additional €100 million is being provided for new disability measures next year under Budget 2021. These measures will include an additional 80,000 personal assistant hours. The 2020 national service plan details that the HSE is seeking to deliver 1.67m hours of Personal Assistant Hours to over 2,550 people.

The Government is working to ensure that People with Disabilities be allowed to live an independent life of their own choosing, the same as any other person, and this is consistent with the disability reform policy - “transforming lives”.

The HSE provides a range of assisted living services including Personal Assistant (PA) services to support individuals to maximise their capacity to live full and independent lives.

Personal Assistance Services are accessed through an application process or through referrals from public health nurses or other community based staff. Individual’s needs are evaluated against the criteria for prioritisation for the particular services and then decisions are made in relation to the allocation of resources.

Resource allocation is determined by the needs of the individual, compliance with prioritisation criteria, and the level of resources available. It is important to note that the level of service delivered is varied to ensure that each client’s needs are reflected. Therefore there is no average agreed number of PA hours per person. PA and Home Support Services are provided either directly by the HSE or through a range of voluntary service providers. The majority of specialised disability provision (80%) is delivered through non-statutory sector service providers.

In line with Government policy, the HSE provides Personal Assistant Services that are person-centred, equitable and transparent to people with a physical and/or sensory disability.

People with disabilities are now living longer and living with a range of complex needs. In line with national policy implemented under Transforming Lives, the focus in recent years has been to enable people with disabilities to live lives of their choosing. The provision of Personal Assistant hours is an essential component of this.

The PA works on a one to one basis, in the home and the community, with a person with a physical or sensory disability. A vital element of this personalised support is the full involvement of the service user in planning and agreeing the type and the times when support is provided to them. Supporting independent living must enhance the person’s control over their own life.

Ireland ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) in March 2018 as a process of progressive realisation of the rights that people with disabilities hold under the Convention. Significant progress has been made on key aspects of the CRPD, including enabling most children with disabilties to participate in mainstream education, providing supports for people with disabilities into employment, implementing a policy of decongregation and reforming the law on decision making capacity.

Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities states that

- disabled people should live where they wish and with whom they wish;

- they should enjoy a range of community support services including personal assistance;

- they should enjoy community life and its opportunities on an equal basis to non-disabled people; and

- they should not be subject to isolation or segregation.

The PA service provided by the HSE adheres to these principles. The Programme for Government, cognisant of these principles, agreed to deliver further increased Personal Assistance hours.

In the normal course of service delivery, an individual's requirements are constantly reviewed to ensure services meet changing need. An individual’s Personal Assistant hours may be adjusted following a service review where demand can result in one individual’s hours being reduced in order to address priority needs of other people with disabilities within that community.

This much needed flexibility gives local Community Healthcare Organisations (CHOs) the freedom to target Personal Assistant hours to maximum effect within their area.

Beyond the clear policy and operational arrangements, which I have outlined, and which facilitate the availability of appropriate and growing levels of Personal Assistant support, I have no plans for additional legislation governing the rights, entitlements and operations associated with this service at this time.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.