John Dolan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I suggested that people with disabilities might be thinking that Mr. Paul Reid is the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform's man in the Department of Health. Is Mr. Reid referring to the former Department when he mentions the funders of the health service having trust and confidence in the HSE and that this is a bedrock or foundation from which to progress? My issue is that we now have a certain level of services in the disability programme. It is clear that some people getting those services have a greater need than is now being met. Mr. Reid mentioned a figure of 5% per annum and the criteria or scope around the service plan for this year. Given demographics, people are going to have enhanced needs. Some 15% of the parents of users of St. Michael's House in Dublin are aged over 70 and they have sons and daughters living in the community with them. The same is the case all over the country. While we are waiting for the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, or the funder, to have trust and confidence, there are people with needs who are practically hostages. Their needs are increasing and they are going to be waiting until that imprimatur is given. That issue must be fixed now and triaged.

I asked the Minister of State a question about the €16 million deficit in the disability services programme. After yesterday's news, has that figure increased to €18 million? That was all done in the knowledge that there are soft areas where there are deficits. I made a statement, to which I have not received a response, that as things stand there will be a major crisis in terms of the delivery of services committed to in the service plan. That is to say nothing of the people who are waiting.

The Minister of State also mentioned that 160 people have come out of institutions. This is not news to the Minister of State - he knows this fact well and is concerned about it - but there are 1,300 people under the age of 65 in nursing homes. None of them should be in nursing homes populated by people over the age of 80 who are in the last two years of their lives and quite fragile. None of these people should be in those institutions. The HSE is putting people into these institutions while taking a couple of hundred out of other institutions. That must be admitted. I suggest that this is happening not because of the bag of community-based tools - I refer to personal assistants, home supports and a range of other services - that can postpone the day people have to go to these places, or indeed stop them from having to go to them in the first instance. Recently, a 33 year old man went into a nursing home in north Dublin on the basis of having previously been admitted to hospital for a number of weeks. While he was in hospital, the few hours of home support and personal assistance he had were swiped from under him and are no longer available. There are crazy things going on.

I would like the officials to deal with those three points. I thank the officials, and Senator Rose Conway-Walsh in particular for raising the Epilim issue. Karen Kealy from my organisation provided support on this issue at the very start, and it is great to see other people taking it up now.