Ms ?ine Lawlor:

Recruitment is definitely an issue. There is an issue in terms of workforce and workplace planning. To adequately resource disability services, an ongoing plan is needed for resourcing of disability services. So much has been trying to backfill posts. Net growth in staff required to carry out these services has not actually happened. As Dr. Higgins has stated, we are dealing with a huge vacancy rate in the services. Part of the reason is that we wanted to get college students into disability services. However, we have a huge issue getting student placements because staff are in crisis and it is much harder to take a student. The students then do not get the same exposure to working in disability services. That is not the whole story, because the retention piece is really coming across for us. It is that culture piece of disability services. Change under progressing disabilities has caused huge difficulties for staff. There has been a huge reorganisation without consultation with staff.

There are issues around clinical governance and changes which have happened for staff so that they do not necessarily feel safe or have that appropriate structure in place to work in. There is a clinical governance review taking place nationally but there is also the issue of follow-through on basic things like policy which were promised as part of the PDS programme which have never been actually implemented or agreed many years into PDS. This creates a very challenging environment for staff and families where each service is trying to decide on and find a way of working as opposed to allowing our clinicians, who have great levels of expertise, to deliver services to children and their families.