Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Tully for bringing forward this motion. Carers work all year round. They do not get holidays and are not entitled to them according to Family Carers Ireland, FCI. We spoke about this issue at the meeting of the Joint Committee on Autism this morning. The representatives of FCI said that families who have members with autism have additional costs. This works out, on average, at €244 weekly or €11,700 annually in additional costs. It was mentioned already that FCI is seeking a national audit of respite services because we do not know how many beds are in the country. The other worrying aspect for FCI is that more than 50% of carers suffer with mental health issues.

While we are talking about respite services, there was a meeting on Wednesday, 8 February 2023 between the HSE executive and board members of the Owenacurra Centre. The Minister of State will be familiar with this facility. The startling thing about this is that we have lost 22 beds in Midleton, along with the associated services. I address this issue while we are talking about respite services here. I have raised this matter with the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and the European Ombudsman. I have minutes from a meeting and I would like to refer to them here. It was stated that the committee raised concerns regarding placements in St. Stephen's Hospital in Glanmire and St. Catherine's ward in St. Finbarr's Hospital in Cork, as these centres had received lower Mental Health Commission inspection compliance ratings than the Owenacurra Centre. Additionally, concerns were expressed in these minutes that these environments were congregated settings that were campus-based, isolated and away from communities in contravention of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Government and HSE policy, as set out in the Time to Move on From Congregated Settings: A Strategy for Community Inclusion in Ireland. We have been raising this matter and the issue of respite beds. The minutes go on to say that during the meeting, some members of the committee expressed dissatisfaction with the need to transfer the residents away from the Midleton area contrary to their expressed wishes. There is, therefore, a bigger picture to consider here when we are talking about services and losing beds. This is a timely motion in that context. I admire what the Minister of State is doing and what she is trying to do. I just wanted to flag this issue with her because, like with everything, if we are being misinformed about this, she is also being misinformed. If the Minister of State is not getting the right information, she cannot do the right job. I thank her.

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