Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

At least seven young adults with disabilities who have been allocated day service places in St. Michael's House here in Dublin are unable to gain access to those places due to the absence of funding to cover transport. I am sure the Minister of State will agree that this is a shocking predicament for the service users and their families.

One of the people affected left school in June last year. After seven long months at home, his family received word that he had secured a day care place at St. Michael's House, Adare Green. I am told the building is not yet ready so the service will be situated in Baldoyle for the foreseeable future. Needless to say, the family was delighted to secure this place for their son, who has complex special needs. Their joy was soon taken away, however, when they learned there was no funding available to take him to and from the facility. To access the facility via public transport would require four bus journeys each way. Travelling by bus is not an option in any event due to the severity of the individual's needs. He is unable to travel unaccompanied and both his parents work so they are not in a position to bring him.

Another case of which I am aware concerns two brothers, one of whom is a day centre attendee at St. Michael's House, Baldoyle. He was recently accepted into St. Michael's in Bunratty Road, Coolock, but is yet to receive a start date. The other is in an adult day centre in Raheny. Both boys, who suffer from a global development delay, were provided with transport when they attended national school. Since the funding for transport has been axed, they have been struggling to come to terms with their changing routine. Their mother contacted me and said:

I cannot describe to you just how difficult it is for them to have changes made to their routine. One of my sons has been in day care since February 2015, with no transport, and has still not got used to this change.

I understand St. Michael's House has said it is unable to provide funding for transport as it is not within its funding allocation. I raised this matter with the Minister of State recently during Questions on Promised Legislation and he replied he had recently met senior management of St. Michael's House to discuss funding and the amount of funding that has gone into the social care disability service plan for 2017. He confirmed the budget for transport within St. Michael's is taken from its own budget. I understand that, in order to provide a bus, driver and escort for six to eight people - it would depend on the number of wheelchairs among their number - some €65,000 per annum would be required. It is not major money.

This is an issue that needs to be addressed urgently. It is wholly unfair on these young adults with disabilities and their parents that they are being denied transport. It should be a given that funding would be in place to allow them to gain access to services provided for their needs. They should not have to fight for something like this. I ask the Minister of State to intervene immediately to ensure that all people allocated places in St Michael's have access to transport to and from these essential services.

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