Pauline Tully
Question:2000. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Health the estimated additional cost of extending personalised budgets to all persons with a disability; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36084/21]
View answerTuesday, 27 July 2021
Questions (2000)
Written answers
The report of the Task Force on Personalised Budgets was launched by Minister McGrath in July 2018. The report set out how personalised budgets could work as a funding mechanism for people with a disability.
The Task Force reviewed national and international research and consulted with service users and their families. They recommended that the Department of Health, with the HSE, should establish a pilot project to test the delivery of personalised budgets - the aim being to identify the best approach to roll-out personalised budgets following this pilot phase.
The Personalised Budget pilot is open to adults with a disability that are currently in receipt of HSE funded services. This included appropriate school leavers in 2019 and 2020.
It is hoped that the pilot will have up to 180 participants over two phases who access day services, residential services, respite services, rehabilitative training and personal assistance.
There are currently 55 participants in the various stages of the pilot. This means that the pilot is running behind schedule. This is due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in the closure of services, and then the knock-on effect that this has had in making it difficult to recruit staff for the HSE team. The current restrictions are negatively impacting with the HSE’s ability to meet with individuals and progress.
In November 2020, I approved an extension to the pilot project until June 2022. This will facilitate applicant participation of 12 months minimum and allow time for a robust evaluation to be completed thereafter. Following this evaluation, a decision will be made on rolling out Personalised Budgets to all persons with a disability.