Health providers to get one-off payments to ease cost-of-living pressures

Jonathan McCambridge, PA

More than 1,450 organisations are to receive one-off payments to ease cost-of-living pressures as part of an €81 million allocation from the Government’s Inflation Fund.

Community-based and voluntary health and social care providers are being allocated minimum payments of €1,000, with the payments to be made in the coming weeks.

Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly said: “Voluntary organisations play absolutely vital roles in providing frontline services to the most vulnerable in our society – people with disabilities, older people, those suffering from addiction, mental health problems and life-limiting illnesses.

“Many of these service providers have faced serious pressures in light of high inflation in 2022.

“I hope that this additional once-off funding will go some way towards recognising those costs.”

The Department of Health has worked with the HSE to finalise a basis for distributing the funding amongst relevant provider organisations.

There are over 1,450 organisations that will receive payments, ranging from local community groups to national service providers.

Around €62 million will go to disability service providers, €6.8 million to older persons’ services, €3.9 million into social inclusion (including drugs and homeless services), €3.3 million into palliative care, €0.4 million to health and wellbeing and €0.6 million to other organisations operating in the primary care space, including many disease-specific NGOs.

All eligible organisations will shortly receive a letter from the HSE confirming the amount that they will receive and the terms of the fund.