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

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, and her colleagues. In the area of disabilities, in particular, children with disabilities, there are so many issues we could address. I would like to highlight a number of them, some of which the Minister of State referenced in her opening remarks, including the 190,000 overnight stays in respite residential support centres.

In the course of her presentation the Minister of State made reference to what was being provided, understandably so, but I am sure she will agree that much more must be done not only for the person with a disability but also for his or her immediate carer, loved one and so on. Respite care is hugely important. It is not that the extent of the need is unfathomable, but the number of overnight stays needs to be significantly increased to make a critical difference not only for the person with a disability but also for his or her carer. Without carers, many people with disabilities could not continue to live at home or in community settings. It is important in my opening remarks on people with disabilities that I make reference to those who provide such stoic, heroic support for them on a daily basis, year in and year out.

On the targets for the provision of personal assistants and home supports, again, there is, undoubtedly, a need for a significant increase in the hours provided across the country. Personal assistants and home supports are crucial. It is right that I reference this issue in following on the earlier reference to carers and the need for respite care. Some 3.9 million personal assistant and home supports hours were provided in 2015. I accept that the service plan has not yet been published for 2016, but is the Minister of State in a position to tell the committee what improvements, as a result of promised measures, we can expect to see in 2016 on the performance in 2015? I note that Mr. Healy who has responsibility for the social care area is accompanying the Minister of State. Perhaps he might like to comment on that issue also.

There are a number of congregated settings around the country in which there has been little, if any, capital investment for many years. I am speaking not only about facilities for persons with physical disabilities but also for people with intellectual disabilities. I recently visited a facility I had occasion to visit on a more frequent basis many years ago and was concerned to note that it had not been upgraded or updated in any way since I had last visited it. I am also concerned about the registered nurse intellectual disabilities, RNID, cohort employed not only in congregated settings but also across the community sector. RNIDs perform important work, but there is real concern that the training, professional knowledge and experience they bring to their respective positions are somehow being diminished by the idea that they are replaceable by care assistants who do not have the training or experience or potential to make a critical difference to an individual. I would, therefore, welcome a comment from the Minister of State on RNIDs. It is essential that their full range of skills be employed as an integral part of the care supports provided for people with intellectual disabilities, many of whom are in care settings.

At this stage I would like to make reference to an individual case that I believe is reflective of a serious problem across the country. I speak about the group home which has been promised for ten years in my constituency, in the main for young women with physical and sensory disabilities. Ten years on construction of this essential facility in Carrickmacross, County Monaghan has not commenced. There is concern across the political spectrum about this matter. I recently tabled a parliamentary question about it, in respect of which I have spoken to staff in the Department of Health in preparation for its response. The Department, the HSE, the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, Monaghan County Council and the housing association Respond have acted as five silos during the years in this matter, with one demanding a response from another on this, that and the other. The absence of joined-up thinking resulted in the mother of a daughter with special needs who has since passed on never having certainty in her later years that her daughter would be properly catered for post her time on Earth. Another young woman, whose parents are now in their 70s, is awaiting construction of this facility, yet in the past ten years not one brick has been placed on another. This project has been approved in principle. All of the entities to which I have referred are willing to give it their full support, but no one seems to be willing to take the lead to ensure commencement of construction of this facility is given the green light.

I am sorry to use the opportunity of today's meeting to refer to a specific matter, but it is an example of the problems we encounter with governance in general. I am not referring to particular Government parties but to governance in the permanent government and the need to have joined-up thinking and action in the interest of special citizens, and all citizens.