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Minister Donnelly ensures that €20m efficiency target will no longer be sought from disability providers
Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly TD today (Wednesday) confirmed that that disability service providers will not now be required to meet previously planned financial efficiency targets in 2020.
Minister Donnelly said: “It’s hard to overstate the importance and value of these services for people with disabilities and their families, and I am sincerely grateful to the disability service providers who have worked so hard to maintain supports for families during the COVID-19 outbreak.
“There had been a financial efficiency target put in place for disability services before this pandemic, and I believe it is no longer appropriate to ask the sector to meet this target. The pressures on the sector and on families affected have been too great as a result of COVID-19.
“I will now write formally to the HSE to put this in train.”
Notes to the Editor
In 2020, the Health Service Executive budget for its Disability Services Programme is in excess of €2 billion. With this funding, the HSE deliver a range of supports and services to children and adults with physical, sensory, intellectual disability and autism, including Residential and Respite Services, Day Services and Rehabilitative Training, PA and Home Support Services, Early Intervention Services and Therapeutic Supports. The HSE do this in partnership with a range of service provider organisations.
It is important that the HSE and all of the service providers it funds continually review their cost structures to ensure the best use of resources and a focus on the use of these resources for client care to the greatest extent possible. This year, HSE funded organisations were asked to pursue efficiencies amounting to 1% of their budget. For Disability service providers, this was sought in the context of the significant package of additional financial resources provided for disability services in 2020.
However, the Department of Health, in discussions with the Department of Public Expenditure and in submissions to Government on the financial impact of COVID-19, has acknowledged that achievement of the 1% efficiency target in the disability sector will be problematic given the significant pressures on the sector in the context of COVID-19.