Written Answers Nos. 229-241
229. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth for an update on (details supplied); if he will outline what is currently being planned by his Department for here (if anything); and what stage plans are at; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45509/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department is involved in negotiations with a range of accommodation providers across Ireland, and has received an offer of accommodation from the provider to which the Deputy refers. This offer is being evaluated to determine if it meets the Departments requirements.
Due to the commercial sensitivities involved, it is not possible to provide information on the negotiations with any individual provider.
230. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the reason a person (details supplied) in County Donegal had their bus escort stopped in June 2023; when the service will resume; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45511/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible. As the Deputy may be aware, the industrial action that commenced on Friday 6th October, by management and administrative grades in Fórsa Trade Union in the HSE, will impact on the response times to Parliamentary Questions and Representations.
231. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if the funding announced as part of Budget 2024 under Programme D - An Equal and Inclusive Society which states "Funding will primarily focus on additional therapy assistant posts, additional supports across a number of targeted children's services and on the expansion of educational programmes in this area" if these additional therapy assistant posts will be utilised in a school setting. [45514/23]
Amharc ar fhreagra232. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if the funding announced as part of Budget 2024 under Programme D - An Equal and Inclusive Society which states "Funding will primarily focus on additional therapy assistant posts, additional supports across a number of targeted children's services and on the expansion of educational programmes in this area" to provide details of which educational programmes are to be expanded. [45515/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 231 and 232 together.
As this refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
233. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will expedite the proposed Budget increase for foster carers to 1 January 2024, in view of the fact that this group have not had an increase in their allowance for over a decade. [45560/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraIt was my priority to secure a meaningful increase to the foster care allowance in this year’s Budget in order to support the vital role being carried out by foster carers.
As outlined in Budget 2024, from 1st January 2024 the rates of the foster care allowance will increase by €25 per week, up to €350 per week for children aged under 12 and €377 per week for those over 12. The foster care allowance will be further increased in November 2024, up to €400 per week for children aged under 12 and €425 per week for those over 12.
These increases mean that foster carers will receive over €1,700 additional funding per child over the course of 2024, amounting to an extra €300 per month by the end of 2024 for each child placed with them, when compared with the current allowance.
In addition to the above, a double week of the foster care allowance will also be paid at the existing rates to foster carers before the end of 2023. Foster carers will also benefit from a double child benefit payment in respect of each qualifying foster child, which is due to be paid before the end of this year.
I understand the disappointment amongst foster carers that the full increase to the foster care allowance will not come into effect until November 2024. However, given the very many competing demands on the limited funds of the State, including from across the Tusla budget and from other responsibilities within the remit of my Department, necessary compromises had to be made. In this context, it was decided that it was necessary to introduce the increases to the foster care allowance on a phased basis over 2024.
My priority was to secure a significant increase to the allowance, albeit at the cost of a phased implementation. The changes in Budget 2024 will bring the annual rate of the foster care allowance to an amount of €20,800 for a child under 12 and €22,100 for a child over 12.
I hope that the supports contained within Budget 2024 will over time ease financial burdens on foster carers. In continuing to seek to improve the suite of supports for foster carers and to prioritise their needs, I shall continue to work closely with my Government colleagues and with relevant stakeholders.
234. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the details of the targeted funding which will be allocated to early years services in disadvantaged areas which was announced as part of Budget 2024. [45674/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am pleased to have secured an allocation of €4.5m to commence the first phase of roll-out of the Equal Participation Model from September 2024
Work is in progress to finalise the model which will aim to help children and their families who may be experiencing disadvantage to access early learning and childcare settings, through a range of supports, universal and targeted.
To support the reduction of administration for services, target services will be identified using existing data including, but not exclusively, the Pobal HP deprivation index within an evidence based identification process. There will be no application process.
The design of EPM is being finalised based on extensive feedback and consultations with educators, parents, providers and representative organisations. The detail will be published in early 2024. It will seek to reflect the concerns around the additional complexity and staffing requirements of supporting the inclusion of children who may be experiencing disadvantage.
Implementation will be phased with ongoing engagement with key stakeholders on later phases being a key element of the implementation approach.
235. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will outline details of plans by his Department to broaden AIM's programme funding beyond the ECCE timetable. [45675/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe proportion of services accessing AIM has increased substantially since its establishment in 2016. Application volumes for all AIM funding were at their highest level by September 2023 than in September of previous years.
After 7 years in operation, AIM has had a major impact on the lives of children and on the quality of preschool provision. More than 27,000 children have received over 60,000 targeted supports in over 4,000 services nationally since the programme’s introduction in 2016, and the proportion of services that have a child with additional needs attending has increased by almost half.
First 5: A whole-of-Government strategy committed to extending AIM. This extension was to be informed by an end-of-year-3 evaluation, due to be published later this year. Participants in that evaluation - parents, educators and providers – unanimously supported an extension of targeted AIM supports to hours outside the ECCE programme.
As a first step, from September 2024, there will be an expansion of targeted AIM supports to children participating in ECCE beyond the programme hours, in term and out of term from next September.
The specific rules and approaches to this extension are currently being developed. Further details on how AIM will operate outside of the ECCE programme will be made available as the detailed design advances.
236. Deputy Pat Buckley asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth his plans to move forward the implementation of increases to payments made by his Department in Budget 2024 to January 2024 instead of November, given the hardship facing many families due to the continuing cost of living crisis; the rational for the decision if not; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45749/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraIt was my priority to secure a meaningful increase to the foster care allowance in this year’s Budget in order to support the vital role being carried out by foster carers.
As outlined in Budget 2024, from 1st January 2024 the rates of the foster care allowance will increase by €25 per week, up to €350 per week for children aged under 12 and €377 per week for those over 12. The foster care allowance will be further increased in November 2024, up to €400 per week for children aged under 12 and €425 per week for those over 12.
These increases mean that foster carers will receive over €1,700 additional funding per child over the course of 2024, amounting to an extra €300 per month by the end of 2024 for each child placed with them, when compared with the current allowance.
In addition to the above, a double week of the foster care allowance will also be paid at the existing rates to foster carers before the end of 2023. Foster carers will also benefit from a double child benefit payment in respect of each qualifying foster child, which is due to be paid before the end of this year.
I understand the disappointment amongst foster carers that the full increase to the foster care allowance will not come into effect until November 2024. However, given the very many competing demands on the limited funds of the State, including from across the Tusla budget and from other responsibilities within the remit of my Department, necessary compromises had to be made. In this context, it was decided that it was necessary to introduce the increases to the foster care allowance on a phased basis over 2024.
My priority was to secure a significant increase to the allowance, albeit at the cost of a phased implementation. The changes in Budget 2024 will bring the annual rate of the foster care allowance to an amount of €20,800 for a child under 12 and €22,100 for a child over 12.
I hope that the supports contained within Budget 2024 will over time ease financial burdens on foster carers. In continuing to seek to improve the suite of supports for foster carers and to prioritise their needs, I shall continue to work closely with my Government colleagues and with relevant stakeholders.
237. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to clarify the new funding provided for disability services in Budget 2024; to provide a breakdown of the allocation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45752/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn recent years, significant resources have been invested in disability services. Building on previous years, an unprecedented level of funding of almost €2.8bn for Disability services has been allocated for 2024. This follows substantial increases in recent budgets and reflects this Government’s commitment to strengthening the funding provided for the disability sector and working to act to address the shortfalls identified in the Disability Capacity Review.
In Budget 2024, €195.1m in additional funding was provided for disability services. €131m was for Existing Level of Service which includes provision for the full year cost of 2023 New Development Measures, and €64.1m was for the following 2024 New Development Measures.
|
Measure |
Funding |
|
Residential Placements for Children and Adults |
€20.5m |
|
Respite |
€10m |
|
Day Services – School Leavers |
€18.2m |
|
Children’s Services |
€8.5m |
|
Other initiatives including PA Hours and Neurological Community Supports |
€6.9m |
In addition, €18m in non-core funding was provided to address service pressures that arose during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Funding available in 2024 will facilitate the progressive roll-out of the Action Plan for Disability Services and the Progressing Disability Services (PDS) Roadmap. These strategic plans will provide a blueprint for building capacity in services over a number of years, to progressively address unmet need in disability services.
The precise level of delivery of services for people with disabilities, based on the funding provided in the Budget, will be set out in the HSE's National Service Plan for 2024.
238. Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth how the people of Clare will benefit from his Department’s allocations in Budget 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45768/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn Budget Estimates for 2024, I secured funding of €7.3 billion for my Department for 2024. This will enable my Department to continue to deliver services across all programmes and schemes on the Vote in 2024. To illustrate this, I have secured an investment package of €1.1bn for early learning and childcare and over a billion has been secured for Tusla, Child and Family Agency to allow Tusla to continue to deliver essential services to children and families referred to Tusla for help. In addition, funding of €2.8bn is being provided for specialist community based disability services in 2024. This includes increased funding to enhance residential places, respite services, Personal Assistant hours, Home support and provide additional day places for school leavers. I have also secured additional funding of €5m for youth services for 2024.
This funding will be spread across a range of services across the country and all counties, including Clare, will benefit from this investment in services. However at this stage as spending has not begun yet, I cannot indicate what proportion of funding will be allocated across schemes and programmes specifically for County Clare.
239. Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the aggressive measures he intends to use to reduce waiting lists for assessments of needs for children; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45785/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible. As the Deputy may be aware, the industrial action that commenced on Friday 6th October, by management and administrative grades in Fórsa Trade Union in the HSE, will impact on the response times to Parliamentary Questions and Representations.
240. Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the current waiting lists for first contact from Clare Children's Disability Network Team, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45786/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible. As the Deputy may be aware, the industrial action that commenced on Friday 6th October, by management and administrative grades in Fórsa Trade Union in the HSE, will impact on the response times to Parliamentary Questions and Representations.
241. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Health the number of WTE psychologists and behaviour therapists based in CHO 3 and 5 in 2021, 2022 and to-date in 2023, in tabular form. [45415/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this Parliamentary Question relates to an operational issue, it is a matter for the HSE. However, members of the Oireachtas are advised that the HSE is currently not in a position to answer PQs due to industrial action. It is hoped that normal services will resume soon. In the meantime, this Department will continue to refer PQs to HSE for their direct reply as soon as possible
