Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have chosen to highlight a number of the points Mr. Lynch made in his presentation. He said that individual residents consider Camphill as home. There can be no question about that. Among those whom I have met, there is no doubt of that. We are talking about the homes of people with special needs. What that would mean in terms of the individual human beings is inconceivable. We talk about homes and housing in the Houses of the Oireachtas, particularly of late, across a whole range of different situations that have presented. This is just another of those, and these are the homes of people under threat. The alternative is that the HSE would have to take responsibility for the provision of the care settings for the 225 current residents, if I have the number correct. The HSE needs to wake up to what is involved here.

Mr. Joe Lynch has imparted so much information in what he has said. The questions from me are not really back to the panel; they are for the HSE at this point. That said, there are just some points I would like to tease out. Camphill Communities of Ireland was getting capitation fees of approximately 50% of those paid to other organisations in the same field. Would Mr. Lynch like to expand on that? Why has that been the case? What explanation does Mr. Lynch think there is for why Camphill would be treated differently to other organisations providing services in the same field?

To date, HIQA has inspected all of the sites except two. The issues identified required substantial funding. That is the case as the HIQA inspections have been done and the recommendations are there in terms of care settings for older people. This has required significant investment. Dormitory-style provision is no longer acceptable. At best, one might have a twin-room facility. Most often, people should have individual space and all the ancillary services. An effort is being made, albeit not a mighty one, to meet those recommendations in a number of other care settings. To date, however, no funding has become available. HIQA is not out there doing its work just to tick the box. If there are recommendations in relation to specific works that need to be carried out to modernise and upgrade facilities, that is no less the entitlement of the residents in the Camphill Community of Ireland facility. However, the responsibility for funding the works must rest with the Health Service Executive.

That is a very important issue, as the HSE cannot ignore recommendations from HIQA. One of the faults in the system is that HIQA does not have the wherewithal to enforce implementation of its recommendations, and Camphill certainly cannot undertake the financial outlay for capital works. It is just not within its gift, and it is the HSE's responsibility. That is another point that needs to be strongly reflected in the communication that I hope we all agree needs to issue from this meeting. I thank Mr. Lynch and his colleagues once again and I wish Camphill every success in its continued service to a very deserving cohort of citizens.