Dáil debates
Tuesday, 25 June 2019
Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate
Respite Care Services Provision
6:30 pm
Séamus Healy (Tipperary, Workers and Unemployed Action Group)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
It is disgraceful that parents had to take to the airwaves to demand that the decision to cut summer respite services for children with special needs run by the Brothers of Charity at St. Rita's in Clonmel be reversed. I commend those parents, who have been superb advocates for their children and for the disability family. The Minister of State will know that they are under pressure on a daily basis, 365 days a year. They did not need the additional frustration, worry and annoyance of the past year. These parents are entitled to and due an apology.
For years, those parents and we as TDs called for summer respite services. Thankfully, that was eventually established in 2018, and last year's summer camp was professionally run, hugely successful and very valuable to both the children and the parents. Some 20 families were supported at very reasonable costs. Parent power has now saved that summer camp. I again commend the parents for the campaign they have launched over the past week on the radio and by contacting their public representatives and the wider public.
I ask the Minister of State to explain the exact situation in relation to this year's summer camp. Has the decision to cut this service been fully reversed? Have the Brothers of Charity been notified of this decision? Will the same level of service be available this year as last year? Will the same level of funding be available this year as last year?
Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
I want to raise this issue along with Deputy Healy because of the great concern and anxiety parents experienced when they were told that HSE funding for the respite summer camp at St. Rita's, run by the Brothers of Charity, would not go ahead this year. I was contacted by families and individuals, including Lynn Simmons, Sandra Gibson and George and Barbara Kovach. Although I understand that positive progress has now been made, I would like the Minister of State to confirm that as being definite. I will not take the route of my colleague going on the airwaves blowing his coal about it. As Deputy Healy said, it was people power that stopped this happening. These families should not have been dealt with in this way. It is extremely distressing that these parents and their children had to go through such stress and uncertainty.
Representatives from the voluntary and disability sectors were before the Oireachtas Committee on Health last week.
They described the service as a house that is falling down. They said that, while scaffolding is being provided, the house could still fall and that is entirely unacceptable.
The independent voluntary disability service providers said that they operate in the absence of a Government strategy for their role in the future and in the absence of adequate funding for services. That cannot happen. The warning is that this will soon be unsustainable, and it is unsustainable. Those impacted because of their uncertain futures are the people in residential respite and recipients of day services who deserve to live full lives as citizens in the State with the support they need.
As I understand it, the Who Cares? report and the report of the independent review group both concluded that the relationship between the State and the independent voluntary sector has deteriorated and there is an urgent need to place it on a new footing. I am demanding the Minister of State does that. The HSE is not paying the full economic costs for services delivered and it cannot deliver them. I salute the Brothers of Charity and other voluntary services that do this. Organisations have exhausted their own economic reserves and board members are going to refuse to take part because they are not being treated fairly and in an upfront manner by the HSE. The Minister of State should clarify if funding has been restored and if it will continue and be ring-fenced for the next number of years.
6:40 pm
Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
I thank Deputies Healy and Mattie McGrath for raising this important issue and for giving the opportunity to clarify and outline the position on St. Rita's respite service in Clonmel. One of the issues that I put on the Estimates debate last year was an extra €10 million for respite services and I opened the 12th respite house in recent weeks. There is investment going on in respite services but I will deal specifically with St. Rita's in this debate.
This Government’s ongoing priority is the safeguarding of vulnerable people 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. This commitment is outlined in A Programme for a Partnership Government and I was the one who inserted it. It is guided by two principles, namely, equality of opportunity and improving the quality of life for people with disabilities. Respite services are an important part of the range of services supporting people with disabilities and their families. Short breaks can also provide an opportunity for individuals to meet new people, widen their social circle and gain new experiences.
I accept the Deputies' arguments because respite care is crucial in helping to reduce family stress, to preserve the family unit and to provide stability. The need for increased respite services is acknowledged, I acknowledge it, and the HSE continues to work with all service providers to explore various ways of responding to this need in line with the budget available. As part of its ongoing service provision, this year the HSE will provide more than 182,500 respite nights and 32,662 day respite sessions to families in need across the country.
In 2018, there was a significant improvement in respite provision. An additional €10 million was provided to fund 12 new respite houses. That is one in each HSE CHO area, plus an additional three houses in the greater Dublin area to respond to the very high demand for respite from this area. These additional houses are providing additional respite for families that need it. All 12 houses are now open and fully operational and I am proud of that.
Of that extra money, €2 million is being targeted at alternative respite services. These are practical and important solutions. Alternative respite is working well locally, with good examples of summer camps, evening and Saturday clubs having taken place, benefitting hundreds of adults and children. Further additional respite initiatives are planned for 2019 in each HSE CHO area.
South East Community Healthcare, SECH, provides children’s respite services in two locations in south Tipperary including the Brothers of Charity camp in St. Rita’s respite services. In addition, SECH provides outreach and home-based respite to children with challenges accessing centre-based respite for a number of reasons including those confined to home for complex medical reasons or difficulty socialising safely with other children as a result of emerging diagnosis and responsive behaviours. The HSE is fully committed to maintaining the same level of service this year as in 2018.
The additional funding provided last year will continue in 2019 and, in particular, the €2 million allocation to be spent on alternative respite services remains a high priority for the HSE. SECH acknowledges the quality service provided by St. Rita’s and will ensure that the necessary resources required for the summer respite programme in St. Rita’s will continue to be provided to the Brothers of Charity in 2019.
Séamus Healy (Tipperary, Workers and Unemployed Action Group)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
I welcome the reply from the Minister of State, particularly the statement he made that the necessary resources required for the summer respite programme in St. Rita's will continue to be provided to the Brothers of Charity in 2019. That will be a relief to parents. It is a pity it had to come to this and the turmoil parents have been put through over the past week. It should never have been allowed to happen and I certainly hope it will never happen again. I ask the Minister of State to confirm that this respite service will continue next year and into the future. This service is essential for children with special needs and their families.
Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
I am glad that the Minister of State has given confirmation on this but what has happened here is an appalling vista. It was fought for last year. The Brothers of Charity provided St. Rita's and the families were happy. The families tell me - not the Minister of State or anyone else - that St. Rita's and the Brothers of Charity applied for funding this year and got no response. They were told, approaching the deadline, they would not be getting the funding. There has been a reversal here because of people power and families. This is appalling.
I supported the Minister of State during the talks on the programme for Government to try and get this funding ring-fenced. The HSE is blackguarding families, people, centres like this, the Brothers of Charity and the boards of management of these places. This should not have happened. I plead with the Minister of State to ensure that whatever mandarin in the HSE decided to be so cruel, disingenuous and callous as to say this was being pulled will be reprimanded. This is not good enough. These people are looking after their children with special needs and do a great job, as do the centres, the Brothers of Charity groups and many others. They need to be supported, not blackguarded, misled, frightened and scared. There is something more sinister to this than the Minister of State is telling us.
Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
I thank the Deputies for their responses. When I leave this Chamber, I will be asking who put the parents through that particular situation. I am very much aware of the importance of access to planned respite, which ensures that people with disabilities receive opportunities to socialise and facilitates families to receive a break from caring, to preserve the family unit and to provide stability. These are important arguments in this debate.
Respite services are an important part of a range of services supporting people with disabilities and their families. They are crucial to reducing family stress. Short breaks can also provide an opportunity for individuals to meet new people, widen their social circle and gain new experiences. The need for increased respite services is acknowledged and the HSE continues to work with all service providers to explore various ways of responding to this need in line with the budget available.
The HSE is fully committed to maintaining the same level of service this year as in 2018. The additional funding provided last year will continue in 2019 and, in particular, the €2 million allocation to be spent on alternative respite services remains a high priority for me and the HSE. As I stated earlier, SECH acknowledges the quality service provided by St. Rita’s and will ensure that the necessary resources required for the summer respite programme in St. Rita’s will continue to be provided to the Brothers of Charity in 2019. As far as I am concerned, this is only the start of the investment in respite services. I gave a commitment three years ago that I would reform the disability services, invest in them, and put the person at the centre of those services. We need to expand those services and that is my objective.