March 09 2010

Parliamentary Questions

• HSE Budget for payment in lieu of speech therapy
• Staffing of house at St. Itas, Portrane
• Guidelines to local authorities on inclusion of disability allowance when setting local authority housing rent

PARLIAMENTARY QUESTIONS

• HSE Budget for payment in lieu of speech therapy

Deputy Paul Gogarty (GP): asked the Minister for Health and Children the annual budget from the Health Service Executive or her Department for payments to parents of children with special needs in lieu of speech therapy services;

Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children (Deputy John Moloney): I regret that due to industrial action I am not in a position to provide a substantive response to your Parliamentary Question. If this matter remains of continuing concern to you, however, I would invite you to raise it with me again in due course.

• Staffing of house at St. Itas, Portrane

Deputy Joanna Tuffy (L): asked the Minister for Health and Children if, in view of the fact that the construction and fit-out of the new units at a hospital (details supplied) in County Dublin for persons with intellectual disabilities has been completed, she has received the supplementary information requested from the Health Service Executive regarding the staffing business case; if the matter has been considered by her; if a decision has been made to allow recruitment of the required staff; if not, the reason for the delay; the projected opening date for the facility;

Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children (Deputy John Moloney): I regret that due to industrial action I am not in a position to provide a substantive response to your Parliamentary Question. If this matter remains of continuing concern to you, however, I would invite you to raise it with me again in due course.

• Guidelines to local authorities on inclusion of disability allowance when setting local authority housing rent

Deputy Joanna Tuffy (L): asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the guidelines he has issued to local authorities in relation to whether or not to include disability allowance when it comes to setting local authority housing rent;

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (Deputy Michael Finneran): The making and amending of rent schemes is the responsibility oflocal authorities as an integral part of their housing management functions, subject to broadprinciples laid down by my Department in Circular letter HRT 3/2002. It is a matter for localauthorities, when assessing individual households, to consider whether rents payable are inaccordance with the authority’s rent scheme. Therefore, decisions on whether or not to disregardeither a proportion of income or particular sources of income for the purposes of calculatingrents are matters for each individual local authority to consider in accordance with theirown rent scheme.While it is not my intention to implement a national standardised differential rent scheme,in the context of new provisions provided for by the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act2009, I intend to make regulations later this year which will more clearly set out the mattersthat may be included in a local rents scheme.

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