Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Murphy O'Mahony for her questions. Before I go into the assessment of needs and the respite care services, I want to be associated with what many of my colleagues said in respect of the poster put up outside the constituency office of the Minister. That was appalling and disgraceful behaviour and it does not have any part in any campaign. I offer my support to the Minister. From a personal and family point of view, what happened was totally out of order.

On the assessment of needs, as the Deputy correctly stated, there is a provision in this regard in the Disability Act 2005. We accept that the HSE figures show there has been a huge increase in the number of applications. I think it is in the region of 6,000. We accept that we are facing huge challenges in meeting the statutory timeframes. That is the reality. We have also come across very complex cases. We have, however, started acting in respect of the delays.

We are doing three major things. We are putting in place a comprehensive plan of individual measures in each community healthcare organisation, CHO, area. We are also putting in place a new standard operational procedure for the assessment of needs. That is being implemented and is ongoing. The objective is to improve the efficiency and operation of the assessment of needs process and the position with regard to compliance rates. On the broader issue, reconfiguration of the disability services is taking place as part of the progressing disability services for children and young people programme. We also have integrated teams that are operating well and the assessment of needs process runs more smoothly in that situation. Finally, because of the problems we are having, we are also carrying out a policy review of the assessment of needs process. I intend to report back to the committee in future on this issue. That to which I refer is something we have done in respect of this issue and I intend to focus on it the context of the Estimates for 2019.

On respite, as has been acknowledged, we managed to secure an extra €10 million. The work in this regard has already started. I opened a beautiful respite house beside the sea in Balbriggan last week. The staff there are great. In the context of the funding, €8 million will be used to provide nine new dedicated houses for respite in each community area. The remaining €2 million will be used for respite based on home-sharing and also for day options for respite services for people with special needs. We will also be adding the option of home support services for respite. Some families have told us that because of the high level of need experience by children or young adults with disabilities, rather than sending them, it is easier to have the respite care provided in their homes and then their family members take a break.

A wide variety of respite services are on offer. I thank the Minister for his great support on this. A couple of months ago, we listened to people, we talked to families and we accepted that there was a crisis in the context of respite. We had to get an additional €10 million to deal with that. The work has started. In the negotiations that will take place during the summer months and in the debate on the Estimates, it is essential that we deal with the issue of supporting children and adults with disabilities, whether in the context of the assessment of needs or the provision of quality services.

As regards broader disability services, we already have €1.772 billion going into social care services. We have seen massive increases in services. We accept, however, that we have a long way to go but we have started the process. Two years ago, I had three central objectives: first, to reform the services; second, to invest in the services; and, third - the new dimension and in line with the UN convention - to put people with disabilities at the centre of the services. That work has begun and we are gradually making progress.