Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 16 January 2013
936. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Health the way the recommendations of the Congregate Settings and the New Directions Reports are to be implemented in a sector that is already decimated by unprecedented budgetary restriction and the implications for those persons at the heart of the reports; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1237/13]
View answerIn recent years disability service provision has been moving towards a community based and inclusive model rather one which is institutional and segregated. The key lessons from the Report of the Working Group on Congregated Settings (2011) and New Directions, the Report of the National Working Group for the Review of HSE-funded Adult Day Services (2012), together with the Value for Money and Policy Review of Disability Services in Ireland (2012), will provide a catalyst for achieving a more effective, person centered disability service, in line with international best practice. The implementation of these reports will be progressed though the HSE’s National Disability Governance Group and through the National Consultative Forum in 2013. It should be borne in mind that the radical change recommended in the reports is not the sole responsibility of the Health Sector but rather, a collaborative responsibility shared between the person, their families and carers, a multiplicity of agencies, Government and society as a whole.
The Report of the Working Group on Congregated Settings (July 2011), sets out a framework to guide the transfer of identified individuals from congregated settings to live in the community. A HSE-led National implementation Group is developing a national plan and change programme to progress the recommendations of the Congregated Settings Report and transfer the 3,600 people with disabilities who live in these settings into the community over the next 7 years. In July 2012 the Department of Health and the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Affairs jointly published the National Implementation Framework to support the Government's National Housing Strategy for People with Disability 2011 to 2016 . As part of this process €1m has been transferred from the Health Vote to the Housing Vote to provide for the social housing costs of up to 150 people leaving institutions in 2013.
A National Implementation Working Group has also been established by the HSE to oversee the implementation of the recommendations in New Directions. The report proposes that day services in the future take the form of a menu of 12 individualised, outcome-focused supports which will provide adults with disabilities with the support necessary to live a life of their choosing in accordance with their own wishes, aspirations and needs. The guiding principle for the future is that supports will be tailored to individual need and will be flexible, responsive and person-centred. During 2013 the HSE will manage and direct the migration towards a person-centred model of services and supports, through demonstration projects initiated by service providers as proof of concept, which will run in parallel with current services. Their suitability for wider application will then be evaluated.
