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Dáil Debates & Questions
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JUNE 17 2008 Parliamentary Questions
PARLIAMENTARY QUESTIONS Deputy Deirdre Clune (FG): asked the Minister for Health and Children the progress made in dental services under general anaesthetic for adults with an intellectual disability in the Cork area; Minister for Health and Children (Deputy Mary Harney): The Deputy’s question relates to the funding, management and delivery of health and personal social services, which are the responsibility of the Health Service Executive under the Health Act 2004. Accordingly, my Department has requested the Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Executive to arrange to have this matter investigated and to have a reply issued directly to the Deputy.
Deputy James Reilly (FG): asked the Minister for Health and Children if the budget 2007 financial allocation of €75 million for extra residential places, respite care and day services for people with disabilities was fully expended on that purpose; if the budget 2007 financial allocation of €41 million for 255 new residential places, 85 new respite places and 535 new day services for persons with intellectual disabilities and autism was fully expended on that purpose; if the budget 2007 financial allocation of €12 million for physical and sensory disability services was fully expended on that purpose; if the budget 2007 financial allocation of €5 million for core funding deficits in voluntary organisations was fully expended on that purpose; if the budget 2007 financial allocation of €2 million for rehabilitation training capitation grant was fully expended on that purpose; Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children (Deputy John Moloney): The information requested by the Deputy on disability funding and service provision in 2007 relates to the management and delivery of health and personal services, which are the responsibility of the Health Service Executive. My Department has requested the Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Executive to arrange to have this matter investigated and to have the information requested provided directly to the Deputy. Deputy James Reilly (FG): asked the Minister for Health and Children if the budget 2007 financial allocation of €25 million for the implementation of ’A Vision for Change’ was fully expended on that purpose; Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children (Deputy John Moloney): The Department of Health and Children has been advised by the Health Service Executive that some of the development funding provided for mental health services in 2007 was not used as planned because of competing expenditure pressures and the overriding obligation on the HSE to live within its overall Vote. Consequently, some of the planned developments in mental health services have been delayed; however, it is anticipated that some of these delayed developments will be put in place in 2008. These include:
The implementation of a ‘A Vision for Change’ is a key priority for the recently established Office for Disability and Mental Health. By working in partnership with the HSE to achieve the agreed targets, it is expected that the Office will bring a new impetus to the implementation of ‘A Vision for Change’.
Deputy Seán Fleming (FF): asked the Minister for Health and Children the guidelines or practice regarding the number of nurses that should be on duty in a facility for caring for seven adults with moderate mental disability; the normal procedure in these situations; Minister for Health and Children (Deputy Mary Harney): The Deputy’s question relates to the management and delivery of health and personal social services, which are the responsibility of the Health Service Executive under the Health Act, 2004. It is a matter for the Executive to manage and deploy its human resources to best meet the requirements of its Annual Service Plan for the delivery of health and personal social services to the public. The Executive is the appropriate body to consider the matter raised by the Deputy. My Department has requested the Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Executive to arrange to have the matter investigated and to have a reply issued directly to the Deputy. Deputy Denis Naughten (FG): asked the Minister for Health and Children the additional funding provided in 2008 for the development of services for persons with an intellectual disability in the Ballinasloe area; the total funding allocated for services in Ballinasloe in 2008;Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children (Deputy John Moloney): The 2008 Service Plan, developed by the HSE and approved by me, included €50m for the development of additional disability services. The standard expenditure sanction issued to the HSE for 2008 stipulated that the prior approval of my Department and the Department of Finance would be required in the event of any proposal to spend this money for any other purpose. Clearly, it is essential that the HSE lives within its overall budget for the year. It needs to manage its activity levels and cost drivers appropriately to achieve this and I do not believe it is desirable to resort to using development funding to offset expenditure pressures arising in respect of ongoing health services. The HSE is currently reviewing its overall financial position for the year and the roll-out of planned developments in disability services is being considered in that context. I have been in communication with the HSE with a view to an early determination on the matter. My Department has requested the Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Executive to arrange to have the information sought by the Deputy in relation to the named agency provided directly to the Deputy. Deputy Seán Barrett (FG): asked the Minister for Health and Children her proposals to implement a code of practice that incorporates employment rights for persons with an intellectual disability in sheltered employment; Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children (Deputy John Moloney): The establishment of the Office for Disability and Mental Health was announced by the Taoiseach on Wednesday 30th January 2008. The Office will support me as the Minister of State for Disability and Mental Health at the Department of Health and Children in exercising my responsibilities in four Government Departments, namely the Departments of Health and Children; Justice, Equality and Law Reform; Education and Science; and Enterprise, Trade and Employment. The Office will focus on supporting the implementation of the Health Sectoral Plan under the Disability Act and will facilitate the delivery of integrated health and education support services for children with special needs. The Office will also support the development of training and employment support services for people with a disability. As the Deputy is aware, the Health Service Executive (HSE) has recently established a National Review Group to carry out a Strategic Review of HSE funded Adult Day Services for People with Disabilities including Sheltered work. This review will identify the range, configuration and objectives of future adult day services that are most appropriate to the needs of people with disabilities and the statutory responsibilities of the Department of Health and Children and the Health Service Executive. This process aims to produce a clear outline of service model/s that will be reflective of the principles of the Health Strategy — Access, Quality, Accountability and Person Centredness. The Code of Practice will be considered in this context. Deputy Seán Barrett (FG): asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment her plans to improve employment incentive schemes for businesses to employ workers with disabilities in view of the economic downturn; Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): One of the key programmes to encourage the employment of people with disabilities is the Wage Subsidy Scheme. The Wage Subsidy Scheme is operated by FÁ S on behalf of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. The Scheme is available to all employers (except public service employers and/or any employers or schemes where wages are funded by FA´ S) in the State who provide a minimum of 21 hours of employment per week to disabled workers. The objective of the scheme is to increase the number of persons with a disability in employment, and as far as practicable provide a level playing field for them in seeking out or remaining in employment. An independent consultancy of the Wage Subsidy Scheme, which has been commissioned by my Department, has recently been completed and is now being considered by my Department in consultation with FÁS. The findings of this review will inform the Department and FÁ S on how the effectiveness of the programme may be enhanced in the future as an incentive to both employers and disabled employees. The FÁS Supported Employment programme is another programme in this area which is an open labour market initiative providing supports to people with disabilities to help them access employment opportunities in the open labour market. The programme is implemented by sponsor organisations on behalf of FÁ S, which employ job coaches to provide a range of supports tailored to the individual needs of a jobseeker. The ultimate outcome is that the employee becomes independent of job coach support. FÁS has commissioned an independent consultancy review on the operations and effectiveness of the Supported Employment programme. The consultants’ report has recently been finalised and is being considered by FÁ S in consultation with my Department. The report will inform changes and improvements in the future operation of the programme based on its analysis and recommendations. The total budget for FÁS programmes and schemes aimed at facilitating employment and training opportunities for people with a disability has been increased from €73.7 million in 2007 to €77 million in the current year. Deputy Seán Barrett (FG): asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if disability payments will be pitched to more accurately reflect the true cost of disability estimated at an average of 30% of a person’s income here, ranging between 15% up to 48% for some people; Minister for Social and Family Affairs (Deputy Mary Hanafin): My Department currently operates a range of schemes for people with an illness or disability including the insurance based illness benefit and invalidity pension, the means-tested disability allowance and blind person’s pension, and occupational injury benefit for those who are unable to work because of an accident suffered at work. In line with other payments provided by my Department to people of working age, the aim of the illness and disability payment schemes is to provide income support to those who cannot secure an adequate income from employment. In the case of insurance based benefits, security is provided against the loss of personal income in the event of illness while, in the case of the means tested payments, assistance is provided to those whose employment capacity is substantially restricted and whose means are insufficient to meet their own needs and those of their dependents. The rates of payment for all of the above schemes have increased significantly in re cent years in line with the increases for other social welfare payments. For example, the personal rate for disability allowance rose by 33 per cent, from €148.80 to €197.80 in the three year period between 2005 and 2008. These increases have not been linked to any particular index or benchmark but instead have been largely determined by reference to commitments entered into by the Government such as the Programme for Government, the social partnership agreements and in the NAPinclusion process. The net effect of these commitments has been to deliver level of increases well ahead of both price and earnings inflation over the period in question. The issue of the additional costs of living faced by those people with a disability has been acknowledged on many occasions, not least by the Report of the Commission on the Status of People with Disabilities and by my own Department in the Report of the Working Group on the Review of the Illness and Disability Payment Schemes. Both reports noted that any provision for addressing the additional costs of disability should be separated from the existing system of income maintenance payments and instead constitute a separate ‘cost of disability’ payment. In order to examine the feasibility of the introduction of such a payment, a working group was established under the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness (PPF), with cross-departmental membership which included my Department and was chaired by the Department of Health and Children. The group concluded that comprehensive data on which to base consideration of the introduction of a cost of disability payment is vital, together with a structured process of the assessment of need. The group recommended that steps be taken to improve the quality of data relating to disability in Ireland and it is expected that this will be addressed in the context of the forthcoming National Disability Survey, the results of which are due to be released shortly by the CSO. The group also recommended that other issues around the cost of disability should be considered following the development of a needs assessment system provided for under Part 2 of the Disability Act, 2005, which is currently being progressed by the Department of Health and Children and the Health Services Executive. The group also examined the scope for addressing barriers that exist for people with disabilities who wish to undertake or increase their employment and thus move to a position of greater economic independence. In this regard my Department recently introduced a change to the withdrawal rate of disability allowance and blind pension for income in excess of the current earnings disregard level which means that a single person can earn up to a maximum of €432 per week from rehabilitative employment before their disability allowance or blind pension is fully withdrawn. This change has resulted in a 40 per cent increase in the number of people since June 2006 availing of employment in order to increase their overall income while receiving disability allowance. In terms of ensuring adequate levels of income for people with disabilities, the current ten-year Social Partnership Agreement, Towards 2016, includes the commitment to work for the continued enhancement and integration of supports in line with overall social welfare targets. These will include a rationalisation of existing allowances for people with disabilities in the context of the Government’s policy of mainstreaming and the proposed transfer of functions from the Health Services Executive to my Department which includes a number of disability related schemes, including domiciliary care allowance, mobility allowance and blind welfare allowance. The legislative basis for the transfer of domiciliary care allowance and blind welfare allowance was included in the Social Welfare and Pensions Act, 2008. The transfer of Mobility Allowance customers will be progressed after the initial transfer has taken place. Deputy John Deasy (FG): asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the fact that applicants for the carers allowance are presently waiting up to six months to have their claims processed and the difficulties this is causing to people who benefit from having a carer such as the elderly, disabled and those in ill health; the steps he will take to rectify this situation to ensure that applications are dealt with in a reasonable period of time; Minister for Social and Family Affairs (Deputy Mary Hanafin): Entitlement to carer’s allowance is based on an applicant satisfying medical, means, full time care and residency conditions. In determining entitlement to the allowance there are, in certain cases, unavoidable time lags involved in making the necessary investigations and enquiries to enable accurate decisions to be made. Delays can also arise if persons applying for the allowance are not in a position to supply all the necessary information in support of their claim. Many applicants for carer’s allowance are already in receipt of another social welfare payment while their claim is being processed. The number of claims for carers allowance submitted in 2007 was 18,000 compared to 10,700 in 2006 representing an increase of 68%. The large increase in applications received is mainly due to the introduction of the half rate carer’s allowance payment which came into effect from 27 September 2007. Approximately 8,900 new applications for Carer’s Allowance have been received this year to date. The number of claims decided upon between January and the first week of June this year was 43% higher than in the same period in 2007. The Department is committed to providing a quality service to all its customers. This includes ensuring that applications are processed and that decisions on entitlement are made as quickly as possible. The staff and other resources available to the Department are regularly reviewed having regard to the workload arising and other competing demands. The available resources are then used to discharge the Department’s obligations towards its customers and in implementing cost effective controls to prevent and detect fraud and abuse. The Department’s Management Services Unit (MSU) monitors available resources against workload on an ongoing basis with a view to ensuring optimum processing times for claims The Department has introduced a number of measures to address the efficiency of claim processing for carer’s allowance in light of the current backlog:
It is expected that on foot of the above measures, the number of claims on hand will be reduced in the coming months. The position is being closely monitored and kept under review by the Department. Deputy Paul Gogarty (G): asked the Minister for Education and Science the measures in place to ensure that schools operate an equitable policy in accepting an appropriate proportion of special needs students; the way this is monitored; if he plans improvements in this regard; Minister for Education and Science (Deputy Batt O’Keeffe): The Deputy will be aware of this Government’s commitment to ensuring that all pupils, including those with special educational needs, can have access to an education appropriate to their needs preferably in school settings through the primary and post-primary school network. This facilitates access to individualized education programmes, fully qualified professional teachers, special needs assistants and the appropriate school curriculum with the option, in line with each child’s ability, of full/partial integration and interaction with other pupils. My Department’s policy is to provide for children with special educational needs to be integrated into mainstream schools unless such a placement would not be in their best interests or the interests of the children with whom they are to be educated. This does not necessarily mean that every child needs to be fully integrated. Some children may be better supported in a special class attached to a mainstream school. These students have the option, where appropriate, of full/partial integration and interaction with other pupils. Other children may have such complex needs that they are best placed in a special school. Students with special educational needs have access to a range of support services including additional teaching and/or care supports. As the Deputy will be aware, the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) was set up to improve the delivery of education services to persons with special educational needs arising from disabilities with particular emphasis on children. The Council, with its network of up to 80 Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), is providing a structure for the delivery of an effective and speedy education service to children and families coping with disability on a daily basis. Working locally on the ground, the SENOs are a focal point of contact for parents and schools. Parents can contact their local SENO directly to discuss their child’s special educational needs, including any issues or queries they may have in relation to the integration of their child into mainstream education, using the contact details available on www.ncse.ie. The SENOs are responsible for ensuring that all special educational needs in their areas are addressed in an effective manner. They are charged with facilitating access to, and co-ordinating education services for children with special needs in their areas. They will do this by liaising between local providers of educational services, appropriate ancillary services, the council, the Department and parents. There are now over 19,000 staff in our schools working solely with children with special needs. This includes almost 10,000 Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) — compared with just 300 in 1997. There are also over 7,800 resource and learning support teachers—compared with about 2,000 in 1998. More than 1,100 other teachers support children in our special schools, while hundreds more work in special classes. As well as this significant increase in the numbers of additional teachers and SNAs directly providing appropriate education and care supports for children with special educational needs, much investment has taken place in the provision of transport, specialist school accommodation, home tuition, assistive technology and equipment. Schools are therefore being supported to enable them to cater for children with special educational needs. The Deputy will be aware that it is the responsibility of the managerial authorities of schools that are not in a position to admit all pupils, including pupils with special educational needs, seeking entry to implement an enrolment policy in accordance with the Education Act. In this regard a board of management may find it necessary to restrict enrolment to children from a particular area or a particular age group or, occasionally, on the basis of some other criterion. In formulating an admissions policy a school must, however, ensure it is lawful. In particular, it must act in accordance with section 7 of the Equal Status Act 2000. Where a Board of Management refuses to enrol a student in a school, the parent of the student or, where the student has reached 18 years of age, the student himself or herself, following the conclusion of any appeal procedures at school level, has a statutory entitlement under section 29 of the Education Act to appeal that decision to the Secretary General of the Department of Education and Science. A committee is established to hear the appeal with hearings conducted with a minimum of formality. In most cases appeals must be dealt with within 30 days. Where appropriate, the Secretary General may give whatever directions to the Board of Management that are considered necessary to remedy the matter complained of. The National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) is the statutory agency which can assist parents who are experiencing difficulty in securing a school place for their child. The NEWB can be contacted at National Educational Welfare Board, National Headquarters, 16-22 Green Street, Dublin 7 or by telephone at 01-8738700. The Deputy may be aware that my Department recently published a report of a major audit of school enrolment practice. The purpose of the audit, conducted by my Department’s Regional Office Service, was to examine the disparities that exist in schools in particular locations in relation to the numbers of pupils enrolled who are newcomers, have special educational needs or are from the Traveller community. Over half the primary and second level schools in the country were surveyed under the audit. I should emphasise that the statistical information presented requires cautious interpretation, particularly in the context of local factors that could be identified in many instances at primary level (e.g. a concentration of newcomer or traveller children living in a particular area impacting on enrolment in the nearest school). When interpreted in that context, the statistical information returned does not point to enrolment problems on a system wide scale. It does, however, identify a number of school clusters where the evidence points to some schools assuming more responsibility for enrolling children of all backgrounds and needs within their local community, than others. In order to ensure that no schools are directly identified and to ensure that “league tables” for particular areas could not be formed, the published information excludes the names and addresses of schools, but groups them within geographical clusters for comparison purposes. My predecessor has written to the main partners in education setting out some areas for consideration in order to facilitate an informed consultation with the education partners about possible policy measures available to ensure that all schools are welcoming and inclusive to all children of all needs in their own local community. Finally, the Deputy may wish to note that I will host a Conference on the Governance Challenge for Future School Needs on 27th June 2008 in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham to consider the implications of new societal diversity on the future organisation of primary schools. It will be an opportunity for each of the main patron bodies to outline their vision of how the system needs to collectively evolve to respond to the changing circumstances. The Conference will focus on the particular challenges of ethos and inclusion for patron bodies, under both the new and existing patronage models, in ensuring that the system is appropriately attuned to future demands. The long term challenges of organising and developing our system of school governance to accommodate new parental demands and aspirations will be subject to consideration. The Conference will also deal with issues of capacity, choice, ensuring inclusion and the implications for enrolment policies. Deputy Michael Creed (FG): asked the Minister for Education and Science the conclusions drawn by his pilot programme regarding disability funding for Youthreach; his plans to extend the availability of these funds to all Youthreach centres; the plans he has for the roll out of the pilot special education needs initiative to all Youthreach centres; the timescale for same; if the evaluation of the initial SEN pilot has been completed; the findings of same; the plans he has to allow students under 18 years who are in receipt of special education supports in postprimary schools to transfer these supports with them to Youthreach if they leave mainstream schooling; Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science (Deputy Seán Haughey): Youthreach is designed to offer two years integrated education, training and work experience for young people aged 15 — 20 who have left school early without achieving qualifications. The programme, which is managed by VECs at local level, is available in 100 centres nationally and caters for almost 3,700 learners. Supports available to students in Post Primary Schools do not transfer with the student to Youthreach centres. To address special educational needs and provide the necessary supports for learners in Youthreach centres, my Department introduced the Special Education Needs Initiative (SENI) in 2007. The SENI was introduced to 25 groups of 25 learners across 20 Youthreach centres. The SENI involves a general allocation model similar to that introduced in the primary sector in September 2005. It is team based and caters mainly for students with high incidence needs. The SENI provides for the allocation of increased staffing hours (from 4,200 to 5,700 hours per group per year) to deal with the special needs and disabilities of all the students. Additional training was provided to staff in the centres to enable the introduction, on a centre team basis, of a range of professional practices to support students with special educational needs/disabilities. This training followed on from the national introductory training programme introduced into all centres in 2006. In addition, the 20 centres have access to a password protected internet site containing guidelines, tailored training programmes and other materials. During 2007, an evaluation was carried out on the SENI to determine its suitability and effectiveness for the learners. The findings of this evaluation were generally positive and found the new initiative to be meeting the needs of learners. The evaluation recommended full integration of the SENI into each centre. My Department is currently examining the possibility of rolling out the SENI to other Youthreach centres, subject to the availability of funding. Deputy Jack Wall (L): asked the Minister for Education and Science the facilities and assistance available to students progressing from primary to secondary schools (details supplied); Minister for Education and Science (Deputy Batt O’Keeffe): The National Council for Special Education is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), for allocating resource teachers and special needs assistants (SNAs) to schools to support children with special needs. The NCSE operates within my Department’s criteria in allocating such support. All schools have the names and contact details of their local SENO. Parents may also contact their local SENO directly to discuss their child’s special educational needs, using the contact details available on www.ncse.ie. There is no automatic system of transfer of resources from one school to another. Where a child with special educational needs (SEN) is in receipt of additional supports in a school and moves school or moves on to post-primary, and no other child with special needs enrols in the school, then the resource — resource teaching hours and/or special needs assistant support — is withdrawn from the first school and, if still warranted by the child’s needs, is sanctioned for the new school. In considering applications for teaching and SNA supports for individual pupils, the SENOs take account of the needs identified in the professional report and decide whether the circumstances come within the Department’s criteria. They then consider the resources available to the school to identify whether additionality is needed or whether the school might reasonably be expected to meet the needs of the pupil from its current level of resources. A child needing occasional assistance with toileting may, for example, only require a limited amount of an SNA’s time which may be available within the school. As the Deputy may be aware, SNA support in schools is intended to address the care needs of pupils with special educational needs. The criteria for the provision of SNA support envisages that such support is sanctioned where a child has a significant medical need, a significant impairment of physical or sensory function or where the child is a danger to themselves or other pupils. It would be expected that very often this level of care should diminish as the child matures and consequently the level of SNA support required in the school will diminish also.
Deputy Seán Barrett (FG): asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the reason Ireland has failed to ratify the UN convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which came into force in 2007; when it is proposed to ratify the Convention which reinforces equal rights for people with disabilities to education, health, work and community support services; Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Deputy Dermot Ahern): Ireland was in the first group of countries to sign, subject to ratification, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities when it opened for signature on 30 March 2007. A high-level, cross-departmental implementation group was established in 2007 to advise on any changes to the Government’s National Disability Strategy that may be required to enable the State ratify the Convention. This group has developed a work programme setting out the matters that need to be aligned with the UN Convention in order that ratification may take place, and this work programme is being actively addressed by Government Departments. It is the Government’s intention that the Convention will be ratified by Ireland as quickly as possible, taking into account the need to ensure that all necessary requirements under the Convention are being met. In so far as my own Department is concerned, there is a need to reform the law on legal capacity of vulnerable adults. The Government’s Legislative Programme contains a commitment to bring forward a Mental Capacity Bill. That Bill is an important element of the programme of work on the Convention. The Scheme of the Bill is at an advanced stage of development in my Department. |
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Inclusion
Ireland, Unit C2, The Steelworks, Foley Street, Dublin 1, Ireland.
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