Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Good morning to all our guest speakers. I thank them for attending and for their opening statements. What they have outlined fits in very well with what the committee has been discussing over recent weeks. We have talked about people in residential care and young people being placed inappropriately in nursing homes. The main reason that happens is because supports are not there to facilitate them living in the community. We are not only talking about that physical support of a house, which is often available, but the supports such as the personal assistant service.

Some of the figures we have been given this morning are quite alarming. Mr. Cawley said that 1.5 million service hours are divided among 2,470 people has lead to an average of 42 minutes daily for 44% of users, which he rightly pointed out is not a personal assistant service. Can he explain the process for approval of a personal assistant service? Is it the case that not everyone who applies is granted the service? Is it based on funding? Is it because it is not a legal right?

Mr. Fionn Crombie Angus indicated that he is the first person with an intellectual disability to avail of a personal assistant service. Do many people with intellectual disabilities have a personal assistant service or is it largely confined to people with physical disabilities? Standardisation was mentioned by the witnesses. What exactly does this mean? Why is it important?

Transforming Lives says that 5% of the disability budget is used for the personal assistant service and 85% is used for residential and day services. Is that indicative of a model of care that is outdated and in total contravention of the UNCRPD? How can those figures be reversed comprehensively? Those questions are to whomever wishes to answer.