November 12 2009

Parliamentary Questions

• Proposals to review the disabled drivers and disabled passengers tax concession scheme
• Grants to health agencies and similar organisations provided through voted expenditure by Department of Health
• Funding to disability services from National Lottery
• Value for money policy review of disability services
• Waiting time for social welfare allowances

PARLIAMENTARY QUESTIONS

• Proposals to review the disabled drivers and disabled passengers tax concession scheme

Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Finance the position regarding the proposals to review the disabled drivers and disabled passengers tax concession scheme;

Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): A special Interdepartmental Review Group reviewed the operation of the Disabled Drivers Scheme. It examined the current benefits, the qualifying medical criteria, the Exchequer costs, relationship with other schemes and similar schemes in other countries. The report also made a number of recommendations, both immediate and long-term, referring respectively to the operation of the appeals process and options for the future development of the scheme. The Group’s report is published on my Department’s website. Some 13,000 people benefited under the scheme in 2008 at an overall estimated cost of €76 million. Any changes would have to be considered in the context of the annual Budget.

• Grants to health agencies and similar organisations provided through voted expenditure by Department of Health

Deputy James Reilly (FG): asked the Minister for Health and Children the Exchequer funding that supplements funding from the proceeds of the National Lottery, including details of all programmes; the amount allocated by programme per annum for each of the past five years; the percentage of Exchequer funding as part of the total;

Minister for Health and Children (Deputy Mary Harney): Grants to health agencies and similar organisations are provided annually by my Department through voted expenditure as set out in the table below.

Since 2005, the total allocation for subheads which had formerly been funded entirely from the proceeds of the National Lottery has exceeded the funds available from the National Lottery. Subheads that, prior to 2005, were exclusively funded by National Lottery funds are now funded by a combination of National Lottery and Exchequer funding. Funds from the National Lottery as a percentage of the total allocation for all part-funded subheads amounted to 64% in 2005, 50% in 2006, 52% in 2007 and 56% in 2008. The corresponding percentage for 2009 is estimated at 64%. The programme breakdown for these grants, as requested by the Deputy, is supplied in the table.

1,000,739 has yet to be expended from the 2009 National Lottery allocation. 

• Funding to disability services from National Lottery

Deputy James Reilly (FFG): asked the Minister for Health and Children the number of community and voluntary agencies funded by the State at the end of 2008 in relation to disability and mental health; if she will provide a list of same; the amount given in 2008;

Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children (Deputy John Moloney): The State provides financial supports to numerous voluntary and community agencies concerned with disability and mental health services through a number of Government Departments and agencies including the Department of Health and Children and the Health Service Executive. The details of funding made available by my Department to disability and mental health organisations from the National Lottery Fund is respect of 2008 are included below. My Department has requested the Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Health Service Executive to provide you with details of the funding it provided in 2008 to disability and mental health organisations.

• Value for money policy review of disability services

Deputy James Reilly (FG): asked the Minister for Health and Children the details of the value for money policy review of disability services which is under way; when this review will be completed;

Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children (Deputy John Moloney): The Review of the Efficiency and Effectiveness of disability services in Ireland is being undertaken in the context of the Government’s Value for Money and Policy Review Initiative 2009-2011. This indepth review of disability services will assess how well current services for people with disabilities meet their objectives and support the future planning and development of services. The evaluation will focus on the current provision of disability services and explore the way forward for the development of services within a value for money and policy framework. The steering group is chaired by an independent chairperson, Mr. Laurence Crowley, and has two other independent members, as well as members drawn from the disability sector, the Department of Health and Children, the Department of Finance and the Health Service Executive. The review is due to report in September 2010. A structured consultation process with service users and service providers will be an integral part of the review, and submissions will be invited from the public in the near future. The objectives of the review are to examine disability services in Ireland funded by the HSE, including the statutory and non-statutory sectors; to deliver a comprehensive analysis of data in relation to services and service providers; and to deliver an implementation plan to address the findings and recommendations of the final report. A significant element of the project is a policy review which will define and describe the objectives of disability services going forward; consider the extent to which existing policies are consistent with delivery of those objectives; assess whether current policies and investments arising from those policies are sustainable in the context of the changing economic climate; and propose the policy changes, if any, that are needed to ensure that overall objectives are delivered. The terms of reference for the review are to identify the objectives which have pertained to date for the disability services programme in the health sector; to examine the current validity of those objectives and their compatibility with the overall strategy of the Department of Health and Children, the National Disability Strategy and Towards 2016; to define the outputs associated with the programme activity and identify the level and trend of those outputs; to identify any issues with the availability of information regarding current outputs and outcomes; to examine the extent to which the programme’s objectives have been achieved and comment on the effectiveness with which they have been achieved; to identify the level and trend of costs and staffing resources associated with the disability services and thereby comment on the efficiency with which it has achieved its objectives; to compare overall costs, including wage costs and non-pay costs, across the sector (both statutory and non-statutory); to examine, having regard to the range of providers of disability services, whether there is scope to minimize overheads, including administrative costs, management structures, research, advertising, profile- building and infrastructure costs; to evaluate the degree to which the objectives warrant the allocation of public funding on a current and ongoing basis and examine the scope for alternative policy or organisational approaches to achieving these objectives on a more efficient or effective basis; to specify potential future performance indicators that might be used to better monitor the performance of the disability services programme; and to produce a final robust report containing findings and recommendations in relation to the first nine terms of reference I have listed.

• Waiting time for social welfare allowances

Deputy Joe Carey (FG): asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the average waiting time for means assessment for jobseeker’s allowance, carer’s allowance, non-contributory State pension, widow’s and widower’s non-contributory State pension and disability allowance for the mid-west region for the years 2007, 2008 and to date in 2009; the resources that have been put in place in 2009 to enhance the service for 2009 and 2010;

Minister for Social and Family Affairs (Deputy Mary Hanafin): The statistics requested by the Deputy are not readily available in the format he requires. I do not propose to divert staff and resources to compile them.

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