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

Today in Athlone, 70 people, including all heads of disability organisations and community health organisations and the entire Department, are meeting to discuss the disability capacity action plan for the next number of years. One of the main priorities of that meeting is ensuring the sustainability of services and letting people understand that we in the Department, including the Minister, acknowledge that there is a sustainability issue. We are dealing with services that have been underfunded, not just in recent years, but for countless decades. I keep saying this. We need to ensure that these services are shored up and supported in a parallel process while we address needs, including unmet ones, and bring governance, structures and so on up to a standard that allows for proper service level agreements within the new Department. We are prioritising this.

I acknowledge the work being done by WALK for the 250 day service users and the variety of day service user opportunities that it provides. Some of its members are working in the Oireachtas while others are participating in a work programme abroad with Pfizer. WALK is also very involved in its community garden.

To the families that have loved ones attending WALK’s services, be those day services or residential services, I assure them that WALK and all other services will get the support they need in a parallel process while ensuring sustainability and allowing capacity for growth.

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