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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 3 Jul 2003

Vol. 570 No. 4

Written Answers. - Services for People with Disabilities.

Breeda Moynihan-Cronin

Ceist:

127 Ms B. Moynihan-Cronin asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the total amount of funding allocated by his Department for the provision of payments, facilities or services for those with physical or intellectual disabilities in 2003, giving the heading or sub heading in the Estimates under which the allocation has been made; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19519/03]

The Department of Foreign Affairs is responsible for two Votes – Vote 38 (Department of Foreign Affairs) and Vote 39 (International Co-operation). Details of the funding allocated by my Department for the provision of payments, facilities or services for those with physical or intellectual disabilities in 2003 are set out below.

Under Vote 38, the Communicating Europe Initiative, which is administered by the Department of Foreign Affairs, will allocate approximately €10,000 from subhead D to the Disability Federation of Ireland. The federation is holding a series of information workshops around Ireland to promote discussion about the European Union and Ireland's role in it and to provide practical information about how the Union works for its citizens. This project will continue until the end of July 2003. The Communicating Europe initiative also provided funding amounting to €9,845 in late 2002 for an ongoing information service on the National Disability Authority which will continue throughout 2003. In addition to providing information about the EU on disability-related issues, the NDA holds regular online question and answer sessions for site users with specific queries about the Union. The Deputy may also wish to note that the provision of services and facilities for those with disabilities is given priority in my Department's current building and refurbishment programmes.

Under subhead G of Vote 39, which relates to eastern Europe, €18,881 was allocated in 2003 to the Bulgarian Association for People with Intellectual Disabilities for the equipping of a centre in Bulgaria for the rehabilitation of people with intellectual disabilities. Later this year, the second payment of €217,336 from a total approved grant of €457,336, €240,000 of which was paid in 2002, will be made to a personal assistance service programme in Serbia. The objective of this programme is to support independent living and full civic participation of disabled people and their associations in Serbia. This relates to subhead B, the Balkans stability pact.

Under the NGO co-financing scheme, Ireland Aid supports specific projects and programmes for people in the developing world with disabilities through a variety of funding schemes and mechanisms, including the multi-annual programme scheme, the annual block grants and project co-financing. For a variety of reasons, it is difficult to identify precisely how much Ireland Aid funding in 2003 is specifically targeted at people with disabilities. It is not possible, in many cases, to differentiate between the beneficiaries of certain programmes which may address education, health or water and sanitation needs in communities with high incidences of river blindness or landmine injury. However, funding in the region of approximately €500,000 was allocated for projects addressing the specific needs of disabled communities in 2002 under the NGO co-financing scheme alone. Further significant amounts were allocated through block grants. GOAL's programme, for example, included a number of projects targeting vulnerable persons with disabilities. Among some specific examples of clearly identifiable projects and programmes specifically targeting disabled groups which have received Ireland Aid support is an amount of €88,000 allocated in late June for the development of a school for the deaf in Nigeria.
Ireland Aid's humanitarian assistance is targeted at victims of natural or man-made disasters in the poorer countries of the world. Those with physical or intellectual disabilities are often among the most vulnerable groups receiving such assistance. Under the Ireland Aid partnership agreement with the International Labour Organisation, funding has been specifically allocated for an ILO programme aimed at capacity building for female entrepreneurs with disabilities in developing countries. Funding for this initiative, which is primarily focused on east Africa, has amounted to $674,000 from subhead B of the Ireland Aid Vote. The Government also supports a second programme with the ILO to provide advice and advocacy for the employment of people with disabilities in developing countries. Funding of $485,000 has been provided for this from subhead B. The timeframe for both programmes is from 2002 to 2005.
To date in 2003, Ireland Aid has delivered almost €1.2 million for landmine action in the developing world. As part of this assistance, €195,000 has been provided to Handicap International, a non-governmental organisation, which assists victims of mines and explosive remnants of war, to rebuild their lives. In 2003, Ireland Aid contributed €250,000 to the OHCHR to support its work in relation to a thematic cluster that includes disability as well as gender and HIV/AIDS. This contribution was part of our 2003 voluntary contribution to the OHCHR which comes under subhead E of Vote 39. Ireland Aid is funding a United Nations development programme project under the human rights and democratisation scheme in China to enhance the human rights of persons with disabilities. The project is being funded over two years, 2002-03, to a total of €115,000, subhead B.
APSO Personnel Co-Funding expenditure in relation to disability – Vote 39, Subhead C -APSO Grant-in aid.

Agency

Country

Skill

Amount in €

Health Action Overseas

Romania

Two Occupational Therapists

30,000

Irish Red Cross

Iraq

Ortho-prosthetist

7,500

Skillshare International

Tanzania

Two Occupational Therapists

30,000

Voluntary Services Overseas

Thailand

Special Education Teacher

15,000

Namibia

Teacher Trainer of Hearing Impaired

15,000

Philippines

Teacher Trainer of Hearing Impaired

15,000

Vietnam

Special Education

15,000

Ghana

Occupational Therapist

15,000

Sri-Lanka

Disability Careers Adviser

15,000

India

Physiotherapist

15,000

Medical Missionaries of Mary

Brazil

Nurse for the Disabled

15,000

Honduras

Literacy trainer

15,000

Sisters of St. Louis

Nigeria

Co-ordinator of Leprosy education Programme

15,000

John Grooms

Bangladesh

Speech Therapist

7,500

Bangladesh

Occupational Therapist

9,000

Total

234,000

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