Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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121. To ask the Minister for Health the key measures for services for persons with disabilities in the Health budget for 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50711/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Government is committed to providing services and supports for people with disabilities which will empower them to live independent lives, provide greater independence in accessing the services they choose, and enhance their ability to tailor the supports required to meet their needs and plan their lives. Our determination to improve services and supports for people with disabilities and their families is clear in our Programme for Government, our objective is to put the rights of people with Disabilities at the heart of Government policy. 

Budget 2022 builds on €100m funding allocated in 2021 to enhance specialist disability services.The 2022 package totals an additional €115m and includes

- €50m which is being provided to support existing levels of services, or ELS; 

- New Development funding of €55m provided in 2022

- An additional €10m, one-off Covid funding.  

A further one-off allocation of €10m is to be spent by year-end 2021 covering the areas of assistive technology and transport.  Further details will be available in the coming weeks.  

Key initiatives for 2022 include -

- additional posts for children’s therapeutic services to further reduce waiting times for early intervention

- additional Personal Assistance and Home Support hours

- funding for residential services to persons with a disability in response to their priority needs and further residential supports on a planned basis

- funding for additional respite houses to build the capacity of our respite services so that we can better respond to the changing needs of service users and their families

- providing a renewed focus on addressing the inappropriate placement of young people with disabilities in Nursing Homes; and

- ensuring that the approximately 1,700 young people with disabilities who leave school and training programmes in 2021 will be assessed for supports and services in line with the New Directions Day services policy. 

The HSE, in preparing its National Service Plan, will examine how these key priorities can be progressed in 2022 within the overall increased envelope of funding for disability services.