Ministers announce €81m in one-off funding for voluntary and community providers

A total of €81 million is being allocated to community-based and voluntary health and social care providers on a once-off basis as part of government measures to ease cost-of-living pressures.

More than 1,450 organisations, ranging from local community groups to major national service providers, will receive payments.

The Department of Health has worked with the Health Service Executive to finalise a scope and basis for distributing the funding among relevant provider organisations. Payments are due to commence shortly.

[ State should roll back reliance on private nursing homes, says Minister ]

About €62 million will go to disability service providers, €6.8 million to older persons services, €3.9 million into social inclusion, including drugs and homeless services, €3.3 million into palliative care, €0.4 million to health and wellbeing and €0.6 million to other organisations operating in the primary care space, including many disease-specific NGOs.

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Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly said many service providers have faced serious pressures in light of high inflation. “I hope that this additional once-off funding will go some way towards recognising those costs,” he said.

[ State paid out ‘single-digit millions’ on private nursing home claims ]

All eligible organisations will shortly receive a letter from the HSE confirming the amount that they will obtain and the terms of the fund, the department said.

The Government announced funding to assist various sectors with costs related to energy inflation during Budget 2023 including €100 million targeted at “a range of health-funded bodies including nursing homes, hospices and Section 39 organisations”.

The department said €10 million of this funding was already allocated to fund the Temporary Inflation Payment Scheme for private and voluntary nursing homes.

Under this scheme, nursing homes can claim up to €5,250 per month to cover up to 75 per cent of their energy costs from July to December 2022.