Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Government’s ongoing priority is the safeguarding of vulnerable persons 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.

As part of its ongoing service provision, this year the HSE national service plan set a target of over 180,000 overnight and 42,500 day respite care sessions to be provided for families in need across the country. The HSE has advised that there are changes to the models of service, including respite care, being provided in the Cork South Lee area, specifically, the number of overnights with or without day respite care accessed by persons with a disability. The changes to the models of service being provided have not been reflected in data captured for key performance indicator, KPI, returns. The greatest variable in the KPI information relates to children's respite care services provided by the Brothers of Charity. In 2015 a respite care Home Share project was developed as an alternative model to the traditional respite care service. It allows children to spend time with host families in a home from home environment.  This new model of respite care support is proving very popular and a number of children receive more than the 30 nights annual provision, but that is not reflected in the current KPI returns. Home Share was extended to provide significant levels of support for families through a continuum of care provided by an alternative family. This, in turn, has reduced the number of children who require residential respite care to those with higher complex needs.

CHO 4 opened a respite care house in west Cork in December 2018. It accepts referrals from across County Cork.

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