Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for taking this matter, which was originally tabled for last Thursday. This year, St. Christopher’s Services in Longford celebrates 50 years in operation. It was founded by parents and friends of people with intellectual difficulties and provides a community-based, high quality, efficient and innovative service to the people who use it based on identified, individual needs enabling these people, our citizens, to reach their full potential. The centre is renowned locally and nationally for its excellence. One example of the services it provides is Marian Avenue, a six-bedroom purpose built community home in Ballymahon, opened in November 2011, which is home to six people with varying levels of sensory, physical and intellectual disability. Residents are supported to learn new skills such as cookery and money management by being an integral part of the daily activities of a household. They are encouraged and supported to access resources and activities within their community. They are supported to ensure their independence is promoted and developed at all times.

However, St. Christopher's is facing a severe cash crisis and there is genuine concern for the future. It could reach crisis point this year due to a deficit of almost €500,000. Almost 3,000 people – mothers, fathers, children and adults with disabilities, members of the business community and religious leaders – were out last Friday in torrential rain and bad weather due to the level of concern for St. Christopher's.

Since 2008, St. Christopher's has absorbed cuts totalling €700,000. The majority of these cuts were implemented through various efficiencies, but there are no more efficiencies to be made. It is €0.5 million in the red. It urgently needs Government intervention to ensure that the HSE engages in a meaningful manner to ensure that this additional funding is made available so that St. Christopher's can carry on the good work that it has done for the past 50 years and provide a critical service for the service users.

James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for being in the Chamber today to take this important motion.

The issue of funding St. Christopher's Services is my highest priority and close to my heart. My mother, Mrs. Marcella Bannon, was on the founding committee 50 years ago. She was the first treasurer of the association and she spent her lifetime fund-raising for St. Christopher's. I have spent the past 35 years attending AGMs and supporting the services at St. Christopher's. It is my duty to keep telling the Government how important the services of St. Christopher's are to the hundreds of families in the midlands who use the services.

To understand how important this issue is, one need look no further than Friday last when 4,000, or 12% of the population of County Longford, marched through Longford town to protest about the issue. I was proud to walk alongside the service users, parents and staff on Friday last. After taking up this issue with the Taoiseach and the Minister on several occasions, I am again raising this serious matter on the floor of the Dáil.

Since 2007, St. Christopher's has absorbed €800,000 in cuts. Despite these cuts, it has managed to provide additional services and continue to provide top-class care for their service users. The management and staff should be applauded for being able to achieve this when the purse strings were so tight. The current financial deficit is projected to rise to €470,000 by the end of the year. This deficit has arisen due to the need to increase staffing levels to meet the needs and care requirements of service users. These service users are a group of elderly patients, eight in Morlea House and six in Marion Avenue, Ballymahon. It is my firm belief that the HSE is not recognising the changing needs of this elderly group of service users in these two locations. If we cannot offer proper care to the elderly, we must look at ourselves as a Government and a nation.

I am concerned that the Minister does not understand, or perhaps the HSE does not understand or accept, the gravity of the situation. If this situation is not resolved, we run the risk of the HSE tendering out the services St. Christopher's for profit. I do not want to see this happen. The staff and service users of St. Christopher's, and the people of Longford, do not want to see this happen.

Alan Farrell (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Deputy Bannon can respond to the Minister.

James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I urge the Minister to act and let the staff of St. Christopher's continue the important work they have been doing for the past five decades.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputies Bannon and Troy for raising this matter. I am pleased to take this opportunity to outline the Government's position on the matters raised by the Deputies. I am taking this debate on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch.

Under the Health Act 2004, the Health Service Executive, HSE, is required to manage and deliver, or arrange to be delivered on its behalf, health and personal social services, including disability services. St. Christopher's provide disability services locally on behalf of the HSE that are subject to service arrangements which are monitored and reviewed at quarterly meetings with HSE disability management.

St. Christopher's Services is funded under section 39 of the Health Act and is expected to receive €8.24 million from the HSE in 2014. Like all non-statutory providers, St. Christopher's is responsible for the management of its resources within the allocated funding. The HSE has been notified by St. Christopher's of its financial difficulty, particularly in services at Marion Avenue, Ballymahon and Morlea House, Longford. I have been assured by the HSE that it is working closely with the board of directors of St. Christopher's to address its funding concerns.

A number of measures to reduce the funding deficit have been proposed and meetings are ongoing in this regard. The HSE is committed to working with St. Christopher's to assist it to find efficiencies within its service and, therefore, come in on budget. I have been assured that the HSE's priority is to support adults and children and their families who rely on disability services provided by St. Christopher's in the Longford-Westmeath area and to ensure that a sustainable service will be in place for the future.

The programme for Government committed to putting national standards for residential services for persons with disabilities on a statutory footing to ensure that services could be inspected by the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA. The introduction of registration and inspection represents a significant advance in terms of developing consistent and high quality services for persons with disabilities in residential services, including St. Christopher's. The purpose of the regulations is to safeguard and support the delivery of person-centred care to vulnerable persons of any age who are receiving residential care services and ensure that their health, well-being and quality of life is promoted and protected. This will empower providers to deliver even higher quality services in future.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister stated it is the responsibility of the management to work within the resources of the allocated funding, but this does not take account of the additional staff needed over the past number of years due to the debilitative nature of the patients in these houses. These patients are getting older, their disability is getting worse, and the management and staff had to hire additional staff to ensure that there was a safe level of service being provided. HIQA recently carried out a monitoring inspection of St. Christopher's and deemed that the staffing levels at all facilities are adequate. The staffing levels are not high or low; they are merely adequate.

The Minister talked about the HSE engaging with the management of St. Christopher's. The last contact St. Christopher's had from the HSE, before Monday last, was on 5 August. Over two months elapsed in which there was no contact.

The proposal from the HSE was to take these patients out of their homes and put them, under the fair deal scheme, in nursing homes. That does not make economic sense.

Alan Farrell (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Troy.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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It certainly does not made sense to take these individuals with special needs and disabilities who cannot stand up for themselves from their own homes and put them into nursing homes, and have them wait 15 weeks for the fair deal scheme to be approved.

I ask the Minister to intervene and ensure at the minimum that the HSE engages in a real and meaningful way with the board of directors of St. Christopher's. They have proved they can provide a cost-effective efficient service over the past number of years.

Alan Farrell (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Deputy Troy's point is made.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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They have absorbed €700,000 in cuts and continue to provide an invaluable service to those who use it. The Minister should let the HSE engage in a real and meaningful manner with the board or directors.

James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister.

This funding crisis goes back to 2007. Those most at risk here are those in need of respite services. They are the most vulnerable in society and we must do all we can to protect them. If the funding crisis is not resolved, I am concerned about a vast reduction in services or even the closure of St. Christopher's Services.

The uncertainty surrounding the respite services at Morlea House and Marion Avenue is having a detrimental effect on everybody associated with St. Christopher's. There are a considerable number of volunteers involved in St. Christopher's, and I applaud them. I urge the Minister to act on their behalf.

It is not acceptable to pass the buck on the funding crisis facing St. Christopher's to the HSE. I want the Minister to take action. This ongoing crisis has had a significant impact and it has taken its toll on essential support services for adults with disabilities, the elderly patients and their families. This is a vital service for persons with learning disabilities in the midlands and I urge the Minister and the Government to meet the funding deficit-----

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Bannon is part of the Government.

James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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-----and allow persons with a learning disability to have a greater degree of independence.

When the Minister spoke in response to a motion earlier, he talked about visiting an institution. I plead with him, as I have in the past, to visit and see for himself the fine unique services that are provided at St. Christopher's Services in Longford. I am passionate about it. My mother and four or five other women started up this organisation 50 years ago this year and I do not want to see it collapse.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Bannon for his kind offer of a half-day trip to visit a particular service in another part of the country. He will be aware from the debate that I get such invitations almost every ten minutes. I will try to make as many visits as I can, but even responding to them is starting to become a full-time job.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I had a meeting with the directorate of the HSE this morning. The Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, was also present. We asked the officials to engage again with the board of directors on the matter. If it is the case that there has not been engagement since August, there certainly should be soon, but it must be about finding savings and not securing additional money, as there is no additional funding. The HSE budget will overrun this year and, unfortunately, no additional funding is available.

As Deputy Bannon is aware, the HSE gets funding from what is voted to it by the Oireachtas. I do not decide how much money the HSE gets. It is the Oireachtas which decides. The budget voted to the HSE is voted by the Oireachtas, of which Deputy Bannon is a Member.

In terms of funding and governance for St. Christopher’s services, I am advised by the HSE that the allocation was €7.6 million in 2010, €7.96 million in 2011 and €8.236 million in 2012. There was a cut to €8 million in 2013 and a slight increase to €8.182 million this year. Needless to say, I am sure there are rising demands and rising costs but it is also the case that budgets for St. Christopher’s have increased since the change of Government in 2011.