Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his attendance. It is nice to have the actual Minister responsible for a Topical Issue appear before us, so I look forward to a deeply informed response.

I wish to raise the challenges in special care, particularly staffing of special care units. It is important that we contextualise this discussion by remembering that special care is a small part of our overall care system, with only a small number of young people in special care units. However, they are some of the most challenging and traumatised young people and, in many ways, they need the most help, have the most challenging behaviours, and have struggled in other placements and present with very acute specialised needs.

We have to remember that because of this these are difficult places to work. There is violence in these units occasionally. There is always challenging behaviour. They are difficult environments. When we look at the staffing numbers, we see the level of stress, sickness and injuries that we do not see in other parts of the childcare system. When we look at the numbers of new staff who have come in compared to the number of staff who are leaving special care units, we see that special care units struggle to keep the staff they have. They are already understaffed, yet they cannot grow their staffing because they are losing as many as they gain, if not more.

Based on numbers from a parliamentary question I asked during the recess, I know Ballydowd is down about one-third of its staffing levels. Crannog Nua is down about one-third of its staffing requirement. Coovagh House is almost there in terms of its staffing requirements. The consequence of this is that, for the safety of the young people and staff, beds and spaces in these units cannot be opened.

We need to remember that behind these numbers are young people who are in desperate need and are very damaged. There have been several comments from High Court judges and difficult cases before the High Court where special care is dealt with. We need to examine why there are gaps in staffing and what we can do about them.

Nursing provides a neat solution. In nursing, there are plenty of location and specialised allowances. We acknowledge that working in an intensive care unit is very different from other nursing positions and there are allowances based on working in specialised environments. We need to acknowledge that special care is a difficult place to work. It is a very different place to work from a normal mainstream residential unit. We need to acknowledge that by paying social care leaders and workers a location allowance that encourages them into and to stay in special care and acknowledges the extra work and the difficult job they are doing. This will allow us to open up beds that are currently closed due to the fact that there are not enough staff. Tusla is eager to get staff in. Special care may be a small area, but it is an important part of the care system and needs to be recognised as such, with specialised allowances for staff.

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