Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising the important issue of the St. John of God Community Services and for contacting me about it during the week, as other Deputies did. Everyone here is aware there is a dispute between the HSE on one side and the board of St. John of God on the other. Both sides are putting their best foot forward and negotiating hard so that we can come to a resolution. What happens in that scenario is that service users and their families get caught in the middle. It has caused a huge amount of unnecessary anxiety and worry for service users and their families that should have been avoided. I regret that it was not avoided. I can give an assurance to service users and their families that whatever happens, the services will be protected, even if that means the HSE has to take them over. We would prefer that not to be the case and that we will be able to come to an agreement with St. John of God.

The chief executive of the HSE, Bernard Gloster, met the board of St. John of God on Sunday. Having listened to what its members had to say, he wrote to them yesterday, Monday, setting out the HSE funding that is currently available to the service and how any deficit or gap can be closed. On foot of that, he has asked them to withdraw their notice to quit the service and is awaiting a response. I echo the Deputy's comments. This should not be about the HSE, the board, the Government or politics. It should be about the service users and their families who are now being subjected to unnecessary worry and anxiety.

I am sure this can be resolved quickly between the HSE and the board of St. John of God but in the worst-case scenario, which I hope does not arise, the HSE can take over the services and we can say to them that no matter what happens, those services will continue.

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