Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy very much for the opportunity to address this issue on the floor of the Dáil. From what I can gather from correspondence I received from him when responding to the Topical Issue and from Senators Ardagh and Seery Kearney, there is a state of flux at this moment in the Deputy's area.

Residential services are currently provided by way of more than 3,800 placements to people with disabilities nationally. These services are provided by the HSE itself. WALK is a section 39 organisation that provides day service to 230 adults, which I visited during Covid times. I have seen their cafe and garden. I met with services users who spoke of their enjoyment of attending their day services.

WALK currently provides for 27 people with disabilities or mental health issues. I really appreciate the Deputy's openness in telling me what is available in terms of the other 14 residential spaces. That was not made available to me in all of my briefing documents. To think that in the heart of Dublin we are struggling to find places and we find out there are 14 spaces available, I thank the Deputy for that.

We all know first-hand the good work that is being delivered through the Oireachtas Work Learn, OWL, training programme for young adults with intellectual disabilities, which is also supported by WALK. In 2023, WALK was in receipt of just over €8 million in funding from the HSE. I am informed by the HSE that an amount of funding was withheld from WALK in 2023. I have no doubt that is putting it under substantial financial pressure in early 2024 due to service users being transferred to nursing home placements or in acute hospital due to a decline in health.

I am advised that the HSE has not stated that it would not fund residential placements. However, I understand that the funding is one of a number of issues that is under active consideration by the HSE with the organisation. The year 2023 had seen work done by the HSE with WALK. Early in the year, the HSE commissioned a service user review of the organisation services with a focus on funding and its utilisation. The draft report had been shared with the organisation's CEO. I am reassured by the fact that there is ongoing engagement between the HSE and WALK. Most recent meetings took place between WALK's CEO, the HSE head of disability services and their management teams only in the past week or ten days. The management teams have agreed to work together to progress a programme of work under the following headings: funding; residential placements; the governance and staffing structures; risk assessments; and clinical input. The HSE and WALK will consider these areas to agree a service improvement plan to work together to address the matter.

Aside from all I have said in reply to the Deputy, WALK is an invaluable provider to services users who have disability needs or mental health needs in a highly densely populated area. The work it does is well recognised and appreciated. The programme work it is currently undertaking is not to put any pressure under WALK whatsoever. I would certainly like the Deputy's constituents to know there is no fear of WALK closing or anything like that. The HSE must and will work with WALK to ensure there is a sustainable, viable solution for WALK. The piece we need to focus on is the sustainability and growth of the service. We know about the level of unmet need right across the country. However, when we have capacity in the service, it is incumbent on the HSE to work with WALK to ensure that capacity can be leaned upon and, at the same time, on a parallel process to address all the operations. I totally agree with the Deputy's sentiment and proposal.

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