€900m set aside for disabled

The Government yesterday presented details of a €900 million disability package which will provide thousands of residential, day and respite places for disabled people over the next five years.

The Minister for Finance, Mr Cowen, said the funding would also enhance education services for disabled people, improve access to public buildings and provide more community-based mental health facilities.

Support groups representing disabled people and service providers broadly welcomed the planned funding increases, but many warned that the plans were undermined by a Disability Bill which failed to guarantee rights to any services.

Mr Cowen said the €900 million funding package between 2006 and 2009, together with funding for next year, would:

provide more than 4,500 residential, respite and day places for disabled people

transfer around 600 people with intellectual disabilities out of psychiatric hospitals and other inappropriate settings

provide 1.2 million extra hours of home support and personal assistance

establish 400 community-based mental health places.

The Minister said that next year an extra €290 million would be spent on the disability sector, an 11 per cent increase over last year. This includes €70 million on providing additional health-related services.

Mr Cowen said: "The funding programme that I am announcing today, and the services that will be provided as a result, represent a considerable and guaranteed advance in the support available to people with a disability."

He said disability programmes had traditionally been at the back of the queue for resources. From now on, he said, they would be dealt with as a normal part of the annual estimates and would receive extra funding in the years ahead, "as overall budgetary circumstances permit".

The National Association of the Mentally Handicapped of Ireland (NAMHI), which represents 160 organisations, welcomed the funding commitments, but warned that the pledges must not be broken.

Ms Deirdre Carroll of NAMHI said: "We're delighted with the funding increases, but we are worried that it could all dry up again in 2006. This must be a continuous process.

"Pressure for services is going to grow as more children are diagnosed and the disabled population grows older."

She added that the Budget "will have a limited impact on the current waiting lists for day or residential services. Minimum targets must be set to clear waiting lists over the next five years. Capital and revenue funding must be on a roll-over basis such as that outlined by Minister McCreevy for other areas of investment".

The People with Disabilities in Ireland (PWDI) group said the bulk of funding would be absorbed by health boards and voluntary groups, which underlined the need for agreed national standards for disability services.

The Disability Federation of Ireland (DFI), which represents voluntary organisations, said limited funding for next year was not as "robust" a start to the programme as service providers wanted.

"There will be a lot to do over the next five years. It's encouraging to see the Minister saying that in future disability services will be dealt with as part of the normal budgetary process," said the federation's chief executive, Mr John Dolan.

Political parties also sounded a cautious note over the funding package. Labour's disability spokeswoman, Ms Kathleen Lynch TD, said that legislation was needed which would guarantee funds in the years ahead.

Fine Gael's spokesman on disability, Mr David Stanton TD, said the Minister had failed to provide any funding for providing accessible homes for people with disabilities.

"All Department of Environment additional spending will be on adaptations to public buildings, parks, amenities, roads, harbours and heritage sites to make them more accessible," he said.

"These are all vitally important works and should be funded. But surely the Minister realises that there is a crisis in funding in the Disabled Persons Housing Grants and huge waiting lists in every local authority area.

"The Minister has failed to recognise the State's responsibility to assist in providing an accessible home for people with disabilities, as well as improving facilities in public areas," he said.

The Minister of State with responsibility for disability, Mr Tim O'Malley, said the funding increases demonstrated an unprecedented commitment towards the disability and mental health sector.