Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent)
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326. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the total cost of the transfer of the disability portfolio from the Department of Health to the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20579/23]

Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent)
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327. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the total allocation to the disability section of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth budget; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20580/23]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 326 and 327 together.

On 1 March 2023 Specialist Community-Based Disability Services transferred from the Department of Health to the Department for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. The budget allocation that will transfer between the two departments, subject to Oireachtas approval, is €2.647 billion based on the agreed scope of services to transfer, and includes funding for an expected end year workforce of 20,424 Whole Time Equivalents employed by the HSE and Section 38 agencies.

There was no additional cost to the exchequer associated with the transfer, which was progressed in line with the established principles set out in the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform’s Transfer of Guidelines and Best Practice Handbook, which states that “Transfers of functions should be Exchequer-neutral”. Both Departments worked together collaboratively to ensure the transfer was delivered in line with best practices.