As the Deputy will be aware, the Western Care Association (WCA) plays an important role in providing disability services to over 1,380 people in County Mayo, which include adult day, respite and residential services, after-school supports, multi-disciplinary supports and respite services for children.
WCA receives funding from the HSE under Section 39 of the Health Act, 2004 to provide specialist disability services under a Service Level Agreement which is signed on an annual basis and reviewed continually. Service Level Agreements constitute a contract between the Chief Officer of a CHO and a Service Provider, and individual allocations are a matter for the HSE. In response to the changing needs of the individuals that WCA support, it is proposed that the agency will receive €41,009,426 in funding from the HSE in 2021. This represents a significant improvement on funding levels since 2014, when the organisation was allocated €28,774.642.
In recognition of the importance of our national specialist disability services, the Government provided an additional €100 million in the 2021 Budget for new disability developments, which will see the budget for specialist disability services exceeding €2.2 billion in 2021.
This allocation included funding of €5.5m for the delivery of 9 new Respite Houses for Children with disabilities. Progress is well underway on the delivery of each of these houses over the next 6 months. St. Gabriel’s in Limerick opened in May of this year, and I am pleased to note that The Hamlet in Swords will be operational this coming September. I also welcome the announcement that 85 additional therapy posts are now approved for the Children’s Disability Network Team which will support the delivery of services in these special schools.
In relation to capital funding, project prioritisation in the health sector is driven by healthcare needs. The HSE’s service directorate must determine the service need and the most appropriate model of care. The role of the National Capital and Property Steering Committee is to prioritise projects and to recommend them for inclusion in the HSE’s multi-annual Capital Plan, subject to funding availability.
In relation to multi-annual budgeting, in addition to the annual current expenditure levels which are set through the Estimates process, the Government now publishes indicative expenditure ceilings for current expenditure for a further two years which will operate as upper limits on expenditure for each year within the three-year period. Due to the level of uncertainty in 2021 as a result of the pandemic, Budget 2021 did not project multi-annual expenditure ceilings beyond 2021 at Estimates time in October 2020.
Finally, the Review of Disability Social Care Demand and Capacity Requirements to 2032 has been completed, which examines the implications of anticipated changes in the size and structure of
the disability population for future service demand. As we progress towards the vision outlined by Sláintecare, it is essential that over the next number of years, the State moves to a population-based planning approach, based on demographic and geographic considerations, that reflects both the health and social care needs of those within our population, including those who require specialist disability services. The Disability Capacity Review will be published in the coming days.
