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Disability Services

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 19 October 2021

Tuesday, 19 October 2021

Questions (87)

Duncan Smith

Question:

87. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Health his intended approach to spending the funding for disability services as committed to in budget 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50818/21]

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Oral answers (6 contributions)

An extra €105 million was announced in the budget last week for people with disabilities and for disability services, which was welcome. We will talk about the disability capacity review and the amount that is needed to meet the unmet demand there when I come back with my supplementary contribution. I ask the Minister of State for more detail on how this money will be spent. I would appreciate that, along with everybody who is listening in to the debate.

I am delighted to have the opportunity to answer this question. I will break it down as quickly as I can. The first €50 million is for the existing level of services. Another €55 million is for new developments. These new developments will be made up of a suite measures in different areas. I want to talk about therapy posts and administrative work. Approximately €9 million has been left aside for that. That is, by and large, for therapy posts and administrative work. It seeks to ensure we can add to each of the 91 network disability teams. I am hearing on the ground that they are short of administrative staff and that we have therapists doing administrative work. That is why I want to leave that flexibility.

The other area of significant funding is for the 1,700 school-leavers. That is part of the transition planning for young people. This year I also introduced a deferral option for young people, so they have that choice. The other additional funding of more than €5 million is for under-65s in nursing homes. It is the first time ever we have had a line in the budget for this. Some €18 million was allocated for this last year.

This year, I have allocated four times that amount at €72 million. This will build up capacity and allow us to do more. Independent living provides an opportunity to return people home or have an independent living space.

While I might be proud of all of the budget, the one part I am especially proud of has to do with personal assistant, PA, hours. This was essential. I made a commitment that we would deliver in this regard, and we have delivered more than 3 million hours. In the budget last year, that number fell far short at 660,000.

Regarding residential respite, €9 million is being allocated to respite houses. The ambition is to have nine child respite houses and nine adult respite houses.

This year's disability capacity review stated that we needed €350 million. That figure would not be static and would instead grow in five and ten years' time to the tune of €100 million each time. How does the Minister of State believe the next budget and the one after that will get to that figure? We undoubtedly need to reach it.

Congregated settings have been mentioned. When we look back on this era of the State's history, I believe we will view congregated settings as a disastrous problem in many respects. Disabled persons and young people have to live in nursing homes and other congregated settings because they do not have the means to achieve independent or assisted living. Inclusion Ireland stated strongly in its response to the budget that a minimum of 7.2% of all new housing provision must go to people with disabilities, but we are nowhere near that.

The disability capacity review was written in 2018. Since then, €530 million has been allocated to the disability sector and €240 million has been invested in new developments. Given the difference between €240 million and €350 million, the Deputy can see exactly what we are short. This gives the House a guideline as to what my framework document is aiming for by, I hope, the end of this year or early next year.

Another line in the budget was the transitioning of 144 people as part of decongregation, which will add to the number of under-65s. Decongregation is part of our work under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Decongregation must be person centred and take into account willingness, preference and choice. At our current rate, however, it will not happen in the lifetime of any Deputy, so it and the work in respect of the under-65s must be accelerated.

The disability capacity review document is very good and sets out what needs to be done and how to get there.

I will submit further parliamentary questions because we need more information, although I appreciate that the Minister of State is giving me a great deal of information in the short time available. One third of people with disabilities are at risk of poverty. There are many multifactorial pressures on this group. If there is one disappointment in the budget, it is that no one group got the lift it needed. We could have chosen disabled persons, childcare or housing. I am not saying that €105 million is insignificant, because it is significant, but we need to leap higher. I thank the Minister of State for her reply.

I am not waiting for the HSE service plan next March to tell me what its priorities are. I am outlining on the floor of the Dáil right now what the priorities are. I am indicating to the various CHO managers that they should start planning now and not to wait until next March. I am telling the HSE that we always need to be planning. I do not have a multi-annual budget. If I had one element of the disability capacity review that I could wish for, I would love to have multi-annual budgets for respite services, PA hours and therapy services so that we could build in capacity. At the moment, I cannot build in that sort of capacity. However, I thank the Ministers, Deputies Stephen Donnelly and Michael McGrath, for the support they have shown in giving me funding. I have been very open in how I would like to see it spent. I would like the HSE to embrace that, take it on board and not wait until next March to start planning.

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