Disability Federation of Ireland Newsletter March 2009
Issued on March 1 2009
Summary
The HSE announced a further 1% cut in funding to voluntary disability organisations, on top of the 1% cut contained in the 2009 Budget.
DFI have protested against this latest cut. The cut does not appear to be mandated by the Department of Finance, but rather forms part of the HSE’s efforts to balance over-spends elsewhere in its operations. John Dolan of DFI pointed out that this move by the HSE contradicted the Government’s undertaking to prioritise disability, and the will of the Dáil to resource disability in its Budget vote.
The move that has been announced undermines the disability sector’s ability to respond to the increasing need for services, and even to work co-operatively with the HSE to provide emergency needs within existing resources. With fund-raising adversely affected by the economic crisis, unilateral cuts by the HSE put voluntary disability organisations under intolerable pressure. Since health and personal support services are the bedrock on which the Government’s National Disability Strategy is based, this practice of the HSE must be stopped.
John Dolan
CEO
