1,000 extra disability services staff to be recruited

ONE-THOUSAND extra disability services staff are to be recruited next year under a package of improvements that also includes increases in residential, respite and daycare places.

More significant announcements will follow on Budget Day, however, when, for the first time, details of future funding for 2006 to 2009 will also be made available.

The decision to introduce multi-annual investment programmes to enable disability groups plan ahead honours a commitment made by the Government when the Disability Bill was published last September. Yesterday’s Estimates earmarked €2.8 billion specifically for disability services across several departments, an increase of 11% on the 2004 figure compared to the 6% increase in overall government spending.

Finance Minister Brian Cowen added he was in continuing discussions with the Cabinet on the prospect of securing additional funding between now and next month’s Budget.

The bulk of the allocation is under the control of the Department of Health and Children, which will next year spend €2 billion of its €10.5 billion budget on disability services. That represents a rise of €205m or 10% on the department’s spending on disability last year.

The main areas to benefit include services for people with intellectual disability and autism, which are to receive an extra €40m to include provision for 270 extra residential places, 400 new day places and 90 additional respite places. A fund of €2m is set aside to meet the costs of moving inappropriately placed individuals into more suitable care arrangements and an unspecified sum is targeted towards improving specialist support services for people with major challenging behaviour.

Under the heading of mental health services, an extra 14 beds are to be provided at the Central Mental Hospital for people referred from the criminal courts, and the Mental Health Commission is to have its funding boosted by an additional €10m. A sum of €15m is provided for specialist services for children and teenagers; the expansion of community supports and extra community residential places for adults.

The area of physical and sensory disability gets an extra €15m, which will provide 60 new places for people in inappropriate care settings; 90 extra rehabilitation training places; an extra €3m in funding for aids and appliances and about 200,000 extra hours of home support. The Disability Federation of Ireland (DFI) welcomed the announcements as a start to what was needed in the sector, but described the disparity between funding for physical and sensory disability compared with intellectual disability as “puzzling” and hoped the Budget would provide greater clarity.

“It is a start, but a start is a long way from the finish,” said chief executive John Dolan. “Things will have to progress at a faster pace over the following four years.”