Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Creed for his question, which gives me the opportunity to speak on this matter, because I share his frustrations. To be quite honest, I do not believe the one model works when it comes to residential care on a number of fronts because most of it only responds to crises and we are not building capacity in the system. That is why I welcome the fact that, on 13 December, we are going to launch the disability action plan. The whole purpose of that action plan is to look at building capacity and providing extra capacity in respect of that residential piece. However, if you are only every responding to crises, you can never build that capacity. When you look at the number delivered in the residential area in a year, the figure hangs between 100 and 110. If you divide that by the nine CHOs, it comes to a residential placement for nine or ten. That is far too small a number.

That is why we did a pilot project. We started funding it last year but only started delivery this year. It is called the Living my Life project. It is aimed at younger people who want to live independently, with support, within their communities. It was set up by a group of parents, Proactive Carers Galway. Regardless of the day centres their young people attended, they came together to look at organising this Living my Life project. I will explain the project to the Deputy. Some 32 young individuals have their care needs supported to allow them to live independently in their community at a cost of €1.3 million. This model is much more cost-efficient than dealing with individuals in their 40s, when needs have changed and are a little bit more complex. It is better if you put in the supports at the beginning and provide the early interventions as opposed to waiting for a crisis such as a parent passing away. Unfortunately, that is the story of some of these people. A parent will pass away and the person will have to be assisted with the transition. We have to determine where a house is available, which might not be within their county, never mind within their community, in that emergency period. That is extremely expensive.

We need to do both and that is why, within the disability capacity action plan, we will start doing both. There is going to be a review of residential placement as well. The most important question is whether we are meeting the needs of the individuals. Are we getting a good return for what we are doing? What capacity do providers across the country have? What properties do they have available and what capacity do they have to recruit staff? How can they bring more people who are waiting on stream more quickly? That is why multi-annual funding will be built into the disability capacity action plan. As some of the providers will tell you, they cannot do it unless they know the money is there.

We are going to address that. We started the Living My Life demonstration project this year which will assist in getting 32 young people, aged from their late 20s to their 40s, access to housing, in partnership with the local authorities. It is not just a health piece; it is also cross-departmental, involving the Department of housing as well. When there is so much housing development going on, the disability sector needs to get its fair share. The CAS funding in the context of decongregation is far too complex and it takes too long to get houses on stream. We need to simplify the process and we are working with HSE estates to make sure that happens. I hope that answers Deputy Creed's question.