Ms Tara Doheny:

Senator O'Loughlin mentioned Kildare and a number of the services there. Quite a few staff from there undertook the SSDL training and the community connector training, so I would be very aware of those services. What strikes me about the specific services the Senator mentioned is that there is an ongoing community of practice for the staff, so it is not just the move and then everything is left. It is very evident from the data we gather. That ongoing support is very important. Some 973 front-line staff, managers and families have completed SSDL training to date and that has been accredited through Athlone Institute.

It is not one-size-fits-all. There needs to be a menu of options so that when front-line staff are supporting individuals, they can look at what that person needs. We start with the person and work outwards as opposed saying we have a house and they need to fit in there. We all know that type of service delivery does not work. In terms of the support we have heard about, some people move back to their family home and are supported that way. There is an array of different types of community living supports available. However, I agree with Senator O'Loughlin that it is very important we have that drop-down menu of options, so that individuals can make an informed choice and sample things as well. I remember when I was at the front line a man wanted to live in an apartment and I kept exploring it with him. When he moved to an apartment, it did not work. The reason it did not work was that he only wanted to move to an apartment because all the nurses who worked with him lived in apartments. He was from the west and ended up living in a wee country house that was very similar to his home, so that was a lesson to me around exploring the reasons.

Services hold a lot of the moneys as well. They get a large amount of funding and they need to unbundle that funding to suit the individual needs of the people they support. Personalised budgets were mentioned and some people want to have more control over their budget, so that option should be available to people if they want to explore that. It gives people more choice and control over their life if that is what they want to do.