Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

360. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth further to Parliamentary Question No. 525 of 23 April 2024, the funding that has been provided to an organisation (details supplied) in the past three years; and the breakdown of how this funding was utilised in the corresponding timeframe, in tabular form. [27864/24]

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

I thank the Deputy for the question and outline funding made available to the Disability Participation and Consultation Network (DPCN) for the last three years as follows:

A summary of the purposes for which funding was made available for each DPCN organisation across the three year period 2022 to 2024 is set out below:

Inclusion Ireland

Funding was approved and made available, inter alia, for staffing and administrative costs, interpretation, training and workshops, travel, online activities, consultation and engagement support, participation and advocacy, capacity building, and governance.

Inclusion Ireland acted as the organising member for the Network and took on a substantive role in the administration of the Network and its activities.

AsIAm

Funding was approved and made available, inter alia, for staffing costs, venue hire and travel, awareness-raising, engagement/self-advocacy sessions, and DPCN steering group activities.

Mental Health Reform

Funding was approved and made available, inter alia, for consultations, capacity-building, strategic development, information and guidance development and dissemination.

Disability Federation of Ireland

Funding was approved and made available, inter alia, for interpretation, production of materials, programme support costs, workshops, awareness-raising, collaboration and network development, capacity-building, facilitation, strategic planning and development, staffing and other costs including travel, and advocacy support.

DPO Network

Funding was approved and made available, inter alia, for capacity-building, development and promotion of best practice, consultation activity, DPCN steering group activities, and the development of policy responses.

Funded members of the DPCN were chosen on foot an open call for DPCN membership and a subsequent merit based evaluation process. The DPCN was formed to build capacity amongst disability stakeholders and to ensure that disabled people and disability organisations are actively engaged and directly consulted on the formation of policy and legislation in line with the UNCRPD.

Funding was continued this year for the operation of the DPCN on an interim basis, pending full consideration of the evaluation report on the operation of the DPCN which was conducted by the National Disability Authority.

Following consideration of this report, the decision has been made that funding for the DPCN will not continue beyond 30^th June 2024. However, I intend to make funding available for successor structures based on an evolution of the DPCN model, to be co-created in the coming period and within the overall framework of the next National Disability Strategy.

I remain conscious of the importance and requirement for collaboration and engagement with disabled persons as part of policy development and, in that regard, my Department will continue to engage and work with disabled people, their representative organisations, wider disability stakeholders, families, carers and supporters, in the powerful spirit of “nothing about us without us”.

Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

361. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 538 and 539 on 23 April 2024, to detail what the 139.5 respite beds that are currently unavailable are being used for. [27865/24]

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

As this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.