Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Browne for his ongoing advocacy on behalf of Stephen and his family. As he knows, home support services are provided to both children and adults with a wide range of disabilities, from physical and sensory disabilities to intellectual disabilities and autism. The home support service for children with disabilities assists the child with various activities and supports parents. Currently, more than 3 million home support hours are delivered to almost 7,200 people annually.

I am advised by the HSE that Stephen is known to the disability team in south Tipperary. As the Deputy said, he currently has a total allocation of eight hours of support per week. Due to those staffing challenges we all know are there, which are very acute in some parts of the country, the HSE does not have sufficient home support staff in the area to provide the service Stephen needs in its entirety. Previously, an external private provider was involved in the provision of the individual’s care, which included some cough assist support. Following a change in its personnel, the private provider completed an evaluation of all staff members in the individual’s location to identify a suitable replacement match to provide care services, including the cough assist service. Unfortunately, the private provider subsequently advised the HSE that it was unable to provide suitable personnel to match the individual’s preferred specific staff arrangement.

I am advised by the HSE that in the interim, five additional personal assistance, PA, hours from another provider commenced on 1 December last year. I understand that is working well, although I absolutely take on board the Deputy's point that the cough assist, which is the service that is of particular importance and benefit to Stephen, cannot be provided by that PA. Whereas other things can be done, that particular service is not provided. I recognise that.

The HSE public health nurse for disabilities met with the individual’s mother and completed a home visit as recently as 15 January this year. The public health nurse outlined all the private agencies that were approached regarding the provision of additional support hours for that individual. As the Deputy said, none of those agencies are currently in a position to provide the specific service that Stephen needs. The individual currently receives one hour per week from HSE home support and seven hours per week from a second provider, which is funded by the HSE through a section 39 grant. South Tipperary disability services continue to work to source a provider that can use the cough assist for the additional service currently provided by the second provider to the individual.

We have not cracked this yet. We need to. It is very clear from the Deputy's use of Stephen's own words to describe the situation that we need to source somebody who can provide those additional vital services, especially in the morning so Stephen can start his day. I will again engage with the regional HSE following this debate, and will ask for a further update on its work to support this specific service for Stephen.

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