Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the delegation for their presentation. I seek clarification on a few issues as I am trying to get a clear picture of the HSE's involvement. Please do not take this the wrong way, but I need clarification. It was indicated that the number of employees is approximately 500, but I presume not all of these work on a full-time basis. I have done a quick calculation on the money being expended, and all of those people could not work full-time. It was indicated that the number of staff had increased, but will the witness tell us why that happened and the reason the cost factor seems to have increased? There is obviously an explanation for that.

It appears from the figures presented that costs are way under what they would be if this was a HSE-run facility, so will the witness expand a little on the differences between them, as they could be very relevant? The witness spoke about capital costs for the facilities. Have we any idea, if we were to upgrade the facilities, what the total cost would be? Perhaps we could get an example of one or two facilities, as the costs for all of them are probably not to hand. With regard to long-term planning, do the witnesses see additional increased costs occurring on a year-to-year basis from now on? It was mentioned that costs have risen from €2.4 million to €4.2 million, which is a substantial increase. Is that rate of increase likely to continue or will it level off? The witness indicated that wage costs are only approximately 50% of the overall cost, but in a similar HSE facility wage costs would be approximately 80% of total cost, so could he expand on that as well?

This information would be very useful. The HSE might tell us it is not engaging for reason A, B or C, but that does not seem logical if Camphill is providing a service at a far lower cost base than an equivalent HSE service. Will the witness expand on that so we can have some answers when the HSE responds? It might argue that the cost is too great, which does not seem to be the case. I thank the delegation for the presentation and the work being done by Camphill. All of the people involved are very committed to it, so it is important that it gets the support it requires.