Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I also raise the issue of Saint John of God Community Services. It has been brought to my attention that 8,000 adults and children receive supports in everything from mental health services to, in particular, disability services from the organisation. We are talking about community services and residential care. My area is served by Saint John of God North East Services, which provides a significant amount of its services in County Louth. It provides services to around 400 people and, in some cases, such as in the likes of Drumcar, we are talking about citizens who have the highest of needs.

We have been in this situation previously. I think it was back in September 2020 that the threat was made by the organisation, without choice, to transfer services back to the HSE. I understand that a decision was made in April 2021 to carry out a sustainability and impact assessment. The results were published in October 2023, but we have not seen any action on it. The organisation claims it has insufficient funding to be able to deliver these very necessary services. It is talking about starting the process of handing responsibility back to the HSE on Thursday. That cannot possibly happen. I have asked Mr. Bernard O'Regan, head of disability services in the HSE, about it. I understand engagement is ongoing, but we really need to bring it to a conclusion. It is not fair on the citizens who need these services nor on their families. We cannot be caught in this round-the-garden type scenario, where organisations constantly need to threaten to get the necessary services for some of our neediest citizens.

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