Mr. Brian Dalton:

On the self-directed service, the disabled person is in charge of recruitment. For example, in my case, I would get CVs in, assess them, go through them and decide who I am or am not going to bring forward, as many disabled people would do who are in a self-directed service. We then meet the prospective personal assistants. They go through an interview process just like I went through for my job. They may go through another round of interview - which they do in my case, because, again, it is self directed - as I would have had to do in my job. If suitable, they are offered a contract with a probationary period of six months, just as I am in my own role, and they must pass that probationary period to remain with the leader. Throughout the whole process the disabled person is in charge and in control of the training. I have training requirements based on the requirements I have and the skills I need and I control and direct the training. They are required to undertake mandatory training from the HSE. For example, they have to be certified for manual handling because obviously there is a physical aspect to the role as well.

The pay is often a challenge. Take the cost of living, for example. It is going up and up. You will not get a personal assistant to work for less than €20 per hour in Dublin. That is a fact. For anything below that it is not going to happen. Pay is a challenge. We have spoken about pay parity already in terms of the HSE. Obviously, the cost of living will go up. You have to attract the person on the right pay scale first but then you want to retain them. Disabled people, with the limited budget that they have, do not often have the scope to have pay increases. There are lots of hidden costs that the employer must cover which are not borne by the HSE. Take Sunday hours, for example. Most people will not work for regular pay on a Sunday. There are bank holidays. There is statutory sick leave requirements which must be covered. We also have the new auto-enrolment system which will come in in January. All of these costs detract from the budget of a disabled person and detract from the number of hours that a disabled person can employ a personal assistant for because you have to have reserves to meet these legislative requirements which are not, at the moment, picked up by the HSE. You then have to have accounts which have to be submitted and they are not cheap. I do believe that if the right supports and funding structures are in place, it is possible for disabled people to attract the right people into the role and personal assistants can build a career from this. The training and self development is ongoing by many disabled people. That continues, as it would in my job, through the time the personal assistant is with them.