John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am taking this debate on behalf of my colleague, the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Finian McGrath. As my version of the response does not reference specifically counties Cavan and Monaghan, if the Deputy needs me to obtain specific information, I will.

The Government's ongoing priority is the safeguarding of vulnerable people in the care of the health service. We are committed to providing services and supports for people with disabilities which will empower them to live independent lives. Respite care services are an important part of the range of services supporting people with disabilities and their families. Short breaks can also provide an opportunity for individuals to meet new people, widen their social circle and gain new experiences. Respite care is crucial in helping to reduce family stress, preserve the family unit and provide stability. The need for increased respite care services is acknowledged and the HSE continues to work with all service providers to explore various ways of responding to this need in line with the budget available. As part of its ongoing service provision, this year the HSE will provide over 182,500 respite care nights and 32,662 day respite care sessions for families in need across the country.

In 2018 there was a significant improvement in respite care provision. An additional €10 million was provided to fund 12 new respite care houses, one in each HSE CHO area, plus an additional three houses in the greater Dublin area to respond to the very high demand for respite care in this area. The additional houses are providing additional respite care for families who need it. To date, ten houses have opened and the remaining two are scheduled to open shortly. When fully operational, they will provide for 19,000 extra over-night stays and 2,520 home sharing night stays annually. Some €2 million of the additional money is being targeted at alternative respite care services. These are practical and important solutions, with alternative respite care provision working well locally, with good examples of summer camps, evening and Saturday clubs, benefiting hundreds of adults and children.

In 2018 community-based, alternative respite care projects delivered 15,144 in-home respite care hours to 400 users and 1,296 Saturday evening-holiday club sessions to 1,500 people. The number of adult service users continually increases as service users transfer from child to adult services. This impacts on the level of respite care existing service users receive. In addition, a number of service users have associated mobility needs, which means that they can only access downstairs bedrooms. This also affects the level of respite care they receive. In preparing its 2019 national service plan additional finding will be focused by the HSE on a number of priority areas arising from ongoing demographic changes. They include the expansion of community disability services to meet the needs of school leavers; 100 new therapy posts to address assessment of need waiting lists for children with disabilities; personal assistance and home support service hours, residential places and respite care places.

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