David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move:

That Dáil Éireann:

notes that: - respite and short break services play an essential role in supporting family carers and people with disabilities, yet three quarters of families get no respite at all;

- there is a significant level of unmet need in terms of respite care, with less than 5,200 people receiving a respite service in 2022, despite there being an estimated 20,000 people or more with intellectual disabilities, physical and sensory disabilities, and autism living with family;

- less people received respite services in 2022 than in 2018, when more than 6,300 families were in receipt of respite care; and

- fewer than one in four people with an intellectual disability, living at home with their family, received any form of Health Service Executive-funded respite service in 2017, and only a third of adults, and the overall level of service provided has decreased with only 120,000 overnight respite sessions provided in 2022, compared to 160,000 in 2019; and further notes that: - recent closures of respite services in Cork, Wexford, Donegal, and other counties have left hundreds of families with children and adults with disabilities without essential respite care, with only 15 respite beds available for children with disabilities in Cork;

- the Government failed to halt the closures of respite care centres during and since the Covid-19 pandemic, and has failed to support the sector to train, retain, and expand its workforce and develop the sector; and

- the Government has been over-reliant on agency staffing, which has driven a creeping privatisation of essential health and social care services, resulting in an unsustainable workforce with unpredictable availability; condemns the Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly TD, and Minister for Children, Disability, Equality, Integration and Youth, Roderic O'Gorman TD, for their failure to: - respect people with disabilities, family carers, and care providers; and

- act on the Disability Capacity Review to 2032 - A Review of Social Care Demand and Capacity Requirements to 2032, to put in place a sustainable plan for the sector, despite having full knowledge of its challenges for several years; and calls on the Government to: - work with stakeholders and service providers across the sector to address their immediate workforce and facility needs;

- leverage all existing capacity in the sector to support the re-opening of closed respite centres, maintain existing capacity in the sector, and prevent further closures; and

- implement a multi-annual strategic workforce plan to expand services to address extreme levels of unmet need.

I will be sharing time with colleagues; I have five minutes.

Respite and short break services play an essential role in supporting family carers and people with disabilities and yet three quarters of families get no respite at all. There is a significant level of unmet need in terms of respite care with fewer than 5,200 people receiving a respite service in 2022 despite there being an estimated 20,000 people or more with an intellectual disability, physical and sensory disability or autism living with a family. Fewer people received respite services in 2022 than in 2018, when more than 6,300 families were in receipt of respite care. Fewer than one in four people with an intellectual disability living at home with their family received any form of HSE-funded respite service in 2017 and only a third of adults. The overall level of service provided has decreased, with only 120,000 overnight respite sessions provided in 2022 compared with 160,000 in 2019.

All of that is a disgrace when we consider that we are dealing with people with profound disabilities and their families who are not being properly supported. If that was not bad enough, in recent months and in recent years we have also seen closure of respite services. We have seen closure of services in Cork, Wexford and Donegal. Many of these closures have been raised on the floor of this House time and again and yet we have not seen those services restored. They have left hundreds of families with children and adults with disabilities without essential respite care.

It is a fact that as we sit here today, only 15 respite beds are available for children with disabilities in Cork, which is absolutely unacceptable when we consider the size of County Cork. The Government has failed to halt the closures of respite care centres during and since the Covid-19 pandemic. It has failed to properly support the sector. It has failed to train enough professionals. It has failed to retain enough professionals. It has failed to expand its workforce and develop the sector. One of the key problems and the key challenges we have in providing respite care and keeping respite services and homes open is a lack of staff. We do not have the staff because we have not had any significant increase in training places and capacity to ensure that we have the pipeline of graduates we need to provide these services. The Government is failing people with disabilities. It is failing people who care for them and their family members.

The disability capacity review was published a number of years ago. It set out in clear and concrete terms the capital infrastructure and staff that are needed, and what the needs of people with disabilities across a wide range of areas are. In our alternative budget last year, we funded a multi-annual plan; the Government has not done it. The HSE produces all of these plans without timeframes and the funding is simply not there. It is all piecemeal with a little bit here and a little bit there but the actual plan is not properly funded.

Those who are failed in all of this are children and adults with disabilities who should be getting respite care. Their families really need it. Anybody who knows anything about supporting somebody with disabilities and what families go through knows that respite care is so badly needed for those carers. When we see respite beds closed, when we see that the capacity is not there and only one third of families are actually getting respite services, behind all that are real people who are being failed.

From talking to many families of children and adults with disabilities, I know it is a real difficulty and a real challenge. They love their loved ones and their family members. They will go to the ends of the earth, as we all would, but it is very demanding and really challenging for those family members. All they ask is that the Government provide the respite services that they need.

When we hear of bed closures and a loss of services at a time when demand is increasing, I have to place the blame and responsibility for that at the door of the Government. I know that the Minister of State works hard and fights her corner in her Department. However, even she would have to accept that the level of investment that has gone into respite services is unacceptable. It is a disgrace that we do not have a resource, a timeframe and a plan to deliver the capacity review. It is also a disgrace that we have closures of services and Donegal, Cork, Wexford and elsewhere. More needs to be done and the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, is in charge. However, we need a whole-of-government approach, including the Minister for Health, to ensure the recommendations in this motion are implemented.

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