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Department of Health opens Public Consultation on Personalised Budgets for People with Disabilities
The Department of Health today opened a public consultation on the introduction of personalised budgets for people with a disability. The consultation is being carried out to help the Task Force on Personalised Budgets to develop plans for the introduction of a system of personalised budgets in Ireland.
Commenting on the launch, Minister McGrath said “Personalised budgets can provide people with disabilities more control and choice in accessing the personal social services which best meet their individual support needs. This can help to promote greater independence while putting service users at the centre of the support process which has been my focus since being appointed Minister. I would encourage anyone with an interest to get involved and I am very much looking forward to receiving the recommendations of the Task Force at the end of this year.”
Mr Christy Lynch, Chair of the Task Force, said “The consultation launched today is particularly aimed at people who may wish to use personalised budgets, their families and the general public. However, everyone with an interest in the area, including: service providers and staff, advocacy groups and representative organisations are welcome to participate. The consultation is open until October 20th and the Task Force is keen to hear the public’s views”.
NOTES FOR EDITORS
The consultation paper is available online at http://health.gov.ie/consultations and the closing date for submissions is 20th October 2017.
A personalised budget is a sum of money which would be funded from the HSE’s budget for disability services and provided to an eligible person with a disability to meet their needs for personal social services and supports.
The Task Force on Personalised Budgets was established by the Minister of State for Disabilities Finian McGrath TD on 20 September 2016, on foot of a commitment in the Programme for Government.
The Task Force on Personalised Budgets consists of a Strategy Group and an Advisory & Consultative Group. Its remit is to make recommendations on a personalised budgets model.
The Task Force is due to make its recommendations to Minister McGrath by the end of 2017.