Martin Ferris (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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I raise with the Minister of State the issue of a centre in Dromavalla, Ballyseedy, County Kerry. It was furnished and officially opened in 2014 since when it has sat idle. No resident has moved into it. The project was spearheaded by Jim and Patricia Adams who, with many others and supported by various agencies, raised €1.3 million to allow it to come to fruition. Some €600,000 was provided by Kerry County Council, while €210,000 was raised by way of a cycle run in 2009, 2011 and 2013. Money was also raised on flag days, while other local charitable organisations helped along the way to complete the project.

Initially the centre was meant to be a home for nine residents, but under HIQA regulations, the figure was reduced to four in a congregated setting. The problem is that nothing has happened since. The centre is lying idle. The reason is no funding has been made available to develop a residential centre for autistic children. Many of the parents involved are moving on in years. Their children who are now adults are approaching 30 to 40 years of age and they fear what will happen to them when they pass on. Jim and Patricia Adams' son James, a potential resident in the facility, cannot live independently. That very fact exerts huge pressure on his parents. The Irish Society for Autism owns the building and the centre was constructed thanks to the various fundraising efforts.

In recent months Inspired Well-being, a Northern Ireland service provider, took the first steps to run the facility, but owing to a lack of funding, it had to pull out of the project. The national director of the organisation, Mr. William McAllister, said it had been in discussions with the HSE, the Irish Society for Autism, Kerry County Council, and others. It proposed to rent the building and that the HSE pay its costs as a service provider. However, the HSE has informed it that it does not have the funding available to pay for staffing and so forth. That is where we are at.

What is needed is a service provider, funded to meet its staffing and running costs. Obviously, the service has to be autism-specific. I look forward to hearing the Minister of State's response. I cannot over-emphasise the necessity for this facility, particularly on behalf of the parents, given what they are and have been enduring since completion of the building in 2014. It is a white elephant, although it is state-of-the-art, with furniture and everything in placein situ. Funding needs to be made available through the HSE in order that a service provider can help it to meet its responsibilities.

Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue and giving me the opportunity to respond.

The Government’s ongoing priority is the safeguarding of vulnerable persons in the care of the health service. We are committed to providing services and supports for people with disabilities which will empower them to live independent lives, provide for greater independence in accessing the services they choose and enhance their ability to tailor the supports required to meet their needs and plan their lives. Significant resources have been invested by the health sector in disability services in the past few years. This year alone, the Health Service Executive has allocated €1.9 billion for its disability services programme.

As part of its ongoing service provision, the HSE will provide over 8,500 residential places this year for families in need across the country. In fact, residential services make up the largest part of the disability budget. Our policies are for people with disabilities to be supported to achieve their full potential in order that, where possible, they can live ordinary lives in ordinary places and doing ordinary things.

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The need for increased residential facilities is acknowledged and the HSE continues to work with agencies to explore various ways of responding to this need in line with the budget available.

Residential placements for adults with disabilities are considered following detailed clinical assessments by HSE services. Access to places for those with the most complex needs is allocated on a priority basis and appropriate availability of service.

The Deputy mentioned a particular centre. I am advised by the HSE that the centre in question is a ten-bed house owned by the Irish Society for Autism that was developed independently by the society without the prior agreement of the HSE, including any agreement on a commitment to funding. As the Deputy will be aware, the current policy on residential services for people with a disability is that no more than four persons should be accommodated in any one unit. This is to avoid the institutionalisation of care delivered in any setting. This ten-bed facility is not in line with the HSE policy on residential settings, which has been in place since 2010.

Everyone in the House will appreciate that the HSE must focus its resources on the areas of greatest need and in line with agreed policy. I am keen to emphasise that significant progress has been made in recent years in orienting our health and social care services to a direction more appropriate for users with autism.

Deputies will be aware that my colleague, the Minister for Health, requested that the HSE carry out a review of health services for people with autism to identify examples of good practice that can be replicated more widely in the health service. There was a strong emphasis on consultation with stakeholders and service users during this process. Following the publication of the review, the Minister for Health requested that the HSE establish a programme board to implement the recommendations of the review and to publish an autism plan this year. This commitment is reflected in the HSE national service plan 2019. An initial meeting of the programme board has now taken place and work is under way to ensure people with lived experience of autism are represented on the board. Several actions by the HSE are planned or already under way. These include: the development of guidance for clinical practitioners working in the field of autism; standardising the autism assessment process; and planning of a communications and public awareness campaign.

Martin Ferris (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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Certainly, the response of the Minister of State is no comfort to the parents of autistic children in Kerry. The Minister of State said that the facility was built for nine people and that the standard regulation within HIQA is for four people. I have been told that the facility is capable of meeting the HIQA regulations limiting the number to four residents.

One thing that disappoints and frustrates me, along with other Deputies, is that we constantly raise issues regarding people with disabilities. I brought up the issue regarding a centre in Listowel where there are four parents in their 70s with four adult children with physical and mental disabilities. Yet there is nothing for them there. The parents are there facing death some time down the road but they do not know what will happen to their children afterwards. The case is similar with regard to the autistic children - they are autistic adults now. Their parents have provided an extraordinary service to the State. They have saved the State millions throughout the island but they now find themselves in their 60s or 70s. They are looking back at their adult children but they do not know what will happen to them.

I have heard the excuse that the HSE looks at every issue. The HSE is not delivering for these parents and adult children. Something has to be done. Some commitment has to be forthcoming from the Government to give assurance to the parents that they will be secure. The State can never repay them for what they have saved the State. The same applies throughout the island. Parents and other siblings who have been so good to the person with disabilities and who have brought them through find themselves in this position. I was hoping for a better response than the response given by the Minister of State. Although I do not blame him personally, I am certainly blaming the Government.

Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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As is often the case, I am not familiar with the detail of the case as I am taking it for my colleague, the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Finian McGrath. However, the matter is under the community healthcare organisation that I represent and I am happy to have further conversations on the matter.

I must point out that the HSE has said there were no discussions with the HSE and no commitment was secured from the HSE for funding before the development of this particular centre. Without knowing any of the detail, I imagine and assume that would have been helpful had it taken place. Perhaps it did and, if so, the Deputy may want to correct some of the detail. I am only repeating the message I have been given and highlighting the point that it is not in keeping with the agreed policy.

The Deputy maintains that the facility can be transformed into a four-bed unit quickly. I cannot adjudicate on that but I am happy to have some discussion with the CHO management locally to see whether we can make progress on this issue. This is not a question of them-or-us. To the credit of the HSE it is delivering services, although Deputy Ferris said it was not delivering. I am not making the point defensively but rather as a matter of fact. The HSE is delivering residential services for 8,500 people but the demand is greater than that. That is acknowledged by the Government and the HSE. They acknowledge that there is greater demand for the service than the number of places available. Obviously, there is funding. We have a finite budget and significant challenges in the heath budget on all fronts, as the Deputy is aware. That applies to disability services as well notwithstanding that we have committed €1.9 billion to disability services this year from the health budget. We accept that the demand exceeds this. I am happy to have further conversations with my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy McGrath, and the CHO locally on the specific issue and on the case mentioned by the Deputy to see if we can make any progress in the interests of all sides and in the best interests of the parents and, most importantly, of the children with autism.