Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Some €2.4 billion is being paid to disability services.

Will that fix the massive problem with disability services? How many more people per day have been seen by a case officer or consultant? What service agreements are in place? Are we getting value for money?

The issue around disability services comes from not having a level playing field. Organisations such as St. Joseph’s Foundation, Enable Ireland and St. Gabriel’s Foundation are voluntary agencies funded by the Government. As a consequence, they are constantly competing for the same staff who are acquired by the HSE, where there is a proper progression system.

Other Deputies in the Independent Group spoke about home help. I spoke to a young mother who is a home help. She gets one day off a week in the middle of the week. She works seven days and then gets one off because the organisation she works for is competing with the HSE whose staff are being paid more money for doing the job. The likes of St. Joseph’s Foundation, St. Gabriel’s Foundation and Enable Ireland are possibly doing double the work for less money. They are doing much more on the ground and they are voluntary organisations. Their staff are getting paid less, getting less mileage and everything else and there are fewer improvements in their systems. However, they are doing more work. These people do Trojan work around the country. However, staff are being snapped up by the HSE after being trained by those agencies. That is a big problem. We need to look at recruitment and also retention within those services. They need to be paid well for what they do, the same way HSE staff are being paid.

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