Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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599. To ask the Minister for Health if he will report on the progress on transferring the disability budget from his Department to the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. [54287/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Following the Government's announcement regarding the establishment of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability and Integration, arrangements are underway for the transfer of disability services to the new Department.

Given the scale of the transfer and the significant budget involved (c. €2.2bn in 2021), HR, policy, legal and governance workstreams are underway within my Department to sequence the range of tasks necessary to effectively complete the transfer of responsibility. A Project Group has been created with representatives from both Departments to prioritise the project and senior officials have been assigned responsibility for this. Fortnightly bilateral meetings are taking place to ensure an efficient, collaborative approach to the overall programme of work. Relevant officials have also engaged with colleagues in the HSE.

Significant progress has been made. There is broad agreement as to the scale and scope of the services involved. There was close cooperation between the two Departments in relation to the budget negotiations for 2022, which were led by my Department with strategic input from DCEDIY.

The legislation to underpin the transfer (The Health (Amendment) (Transfer of Functions) Bill) is listed as priority legislation in the legislative programme for this Oireachtas term. I intend to bring a Memorandum to Government in the coming weeks, with the agreement of the MCEDIY, to seek permission to draft Heads of a Bill.