Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 May 2012
641 Deputy Patrick Nulty asked the Minister for Health if any cost benefit analysis to reductions in personal assistance services for persons with disabilities has been undertaken in view of the cost of rehabilitative, institutionalised or congregated care; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21787/12]
Amharc ar fhreagra646 Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Health if he will reverse all cuts directed at persons with disabilities especially personal assistant hours and to ensure that there are no further cuts in budget 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21822/12]
Amharc ar fhreagra655 Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Health if he will review the personal assistance services available to citizens with a disability to allow them to live independently in view of the significant cut to funding to these services that have already occurred and the need to ensure that citizens with a disability have access to independent living; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21846/12]
Amharc ar fhreagra663 Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Minister for Health if he will revisit the proposed 3.7% cut in personal assistance funding which if implemented will have the effect of reducing personal assistance hours, which will also impact upon the important assistance and work provided by personal assistants which enables persons with significant disabilities to lead independent lives of their own choosing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21901/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 641, 646, 655 and 663 together.
The Health Service Executive National Service Plan for 2012 sets out a reduction of 3.7% in funding to disability services. However the Service Plan states that at least 2% of this should not impact on services and needs to be generated from other savings and increased efficiencies. In this context and as part of the ongoing collaborative work of the National Consultative Forum on Disability, a number of representative organisations and some of their membership have already met to begin a process with the HSE to identify and agree a framework for addressing efficiencies, with minimal impact on frontline services. The HSE will endeavour to ensure that residential, day, respite and personal assistant services are protected where possible from reductions in frontline services. As a first step, the HSE has introduced a general reduction of 3.7% from the budget of disability agencies, pending the outcome of its discussions with agencies at a local level. Pending the implementation of the National Service Plan 2012 reduction, it is not possible at this stage to foresee the allocation for 2013.
The Health Service Executive (HSE) provides a range of assisted living services, including Personal Assistant service to support individuals to maximise their capacity to live full and independent lives. In 2011, a total of 1.68 million personal assistant / home support hours were provided to 11,571 persons with physical and/or sensory disability. The HSE aims to minimise the impact of the 3.7% cut on service users and their families as much as possible. With regard to personal assistant / home support hours, service efficiencies will be achieved through a process of negotiation with service providers around the unit cost of providing the service, rather than reducing the number of PA hours. In this context the HSE National Disability Unit is engaging with each HSE region to identify models and approaches in place pertaining to Personal Assistance and Home Support Services. This process will identify the precise nature of the services available with the intention of identifying agreed models of service delivery. A consultation process to progress the agreed models will then take place through the National Consultative Forum on Disability.
