Dáil debates

Tuesday, 17 September 2019

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate

Rehabilitation Training Allowance Payments

6:45 pm

Photo of Seán SherlockSeán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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I defer to my colleague from west Cork.

Photo of Margaret Murphy O'MahonyMargaret Murphy O'Mahony (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy very much. This is one of the cruellest cuts ever made to disability services. It relates to an allowance of €31.80 a week but it is not just a monetary cut. This allowance provides great encouragement to people to start courses. Not getting the €31.80 can actually stop people doing such courses. I cannot understand why the Minister of State would go ahead with these cuts. When I asked him in a parliamentary question what the money saved would be spent on, he said that it would be put into daycare services, depending on priority. I cannot see what could be a higher priority than what the money is currently used for.

Photo of Seán SherlockSeán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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I speak on behalf of those who have been affected by this cut. I hope that the Minister of State is in the House this evening to say that he is going to reverse it. It is a punitive measure which affects those who do not themselves have a strong voice. I fail to understand the economic prerogative behind this cut. People in this sector are in what is called a rehabilitative phase, which is designed to assist progression. For the sake of €31.80 per person, it seems miserly and mean to make cuts affecting people in this category. I hope that the Minister of State will reverse this decision because none of us on this side of the House understands why it was made in the first instance.

Photo of Brendan  RyanBrendan Ryan (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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We were shocked when, during the summer break, the Government and the HSE decided to abolish the rehabilitative training allowance effective from 1 September. This means that people with disabilities will not get the allowance of €31.80 a week they received while on the programme. In the Minister of State's reply to me he said that 2,300 people receive the allowance. That means the HSE is spending €3.6 million on the scheme every year. He also said that 400 new people would lose out this year. That means the HSE will save approximately €220,000 this year. That is not a lot when one considers the size of the HSE's annual budget. The people who get the allowance really need it. It is vital for them. It can represent the difference between doing a rehabilitative training programme and not doing one. These programmes are about life skills. The allowance is about helping people with disabilities to avail of a service which allows them to learn independence. This allowance helps them to be independent, to make choices, and to begin to be full members of the community. They have a right to this and they deserve it.

Photo of Finian McGrathFinian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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I thank the Deputies for raising this important issue and for giving me the opportunity to explain the situation and to dispel many of the myths that appeared over the summer, particularly in the national media. It gives me the opportunity to outline the position in respect of the rehabilitative training, RT, bonus payment. The Government's priority is to provide access to high quality day services to as many people with disabilities as possible. The HSE currently funds day services for more than 27,000 people with disabilities. These services include rehabilitative training programmes. Placements in day services are invaluable as they provide people with disabilities with a range of supports to allow them to make the type of choices available to other adults, enabling them to live independent lives of their choosing.

The HSE's New Directions policy seeks to reconfigure and personalise HSE-funded adult day services and offers a flexible and individualised set of supports to enable each person to live a life of his or her choosing in accordance with his or her own wishes and needs. Rehabilitative training programmes are designed to equip participants with basic personal, social and work-related skills. Approximately 2,300 people attend rehabilitative training programmes and, since the start of September, approximately 400 school leavers have commenced RT programmes.

The RT bonus payment is currently paid at a rate of €31.80 per week to attendees of these rehabilitative training programmes, who can attend for a period of up to four years. The RT bonus was introduced in 2001, aligned with a similar FÁS training bonus that later became the SOLAS vocational training programme payment. It is important to note that this payment was reduced in 2011 and discontinued in 2012. Over the next four years, from September 2019, the RT bonus will cease to apply to new attendees, rather, the money that would have been spent on the bonus, estimated at approximately €3.7 million over four years, will be redirected to address unmet need in day service provision for people with disabilities. The redirected funding, which I have asked the director general of the HSE to ring-fence, will create approximately - wait for it - 148 additional full day placements or 370 additional enhanced day places nationally for those with a reduced service or no service, based on priority need. These new day services will be of great support to those with a disability and their families. Each community healthcare organisation, CHO, will have the flexibility to redirect its own savings to address local service requirements and the HSE has been asked to report regularly to the Department of Health on the additional placements realised.

I emphasise that current participants in rehabilitative training programmes will not be affected and that their payments will continue until they complete their four-year programme. It is important to note that while the majority of attendees of HSE day services qualify for disability allowance, which is paid at a rate of €203 per week and also qualifies them for a free travel pass, the additional RT bonus payment is only payable to attendees of rehabilitative training programmes. This decision will maximise the use of finite resources and, crucially, will ensure that all attendees of HSE-funded day services have the same level of support.

Photo of Margaret Murphy O'MahonyMargaret Murphy O'Mahony (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit. During the summer, I had the pleasure of visiting the training unit in Bantry. I met many of the students there and they spoke very eloquently about what the course meant to them. It helps their confidence and gives them self-belief. Many of them said that without the €31.80 they simply could not attend. The Minister of State points out that it is only new students who will not get the allowance. That is also very cruel. In any one classroom, there will be some people who get the allowance and some people who do not. Only this morning I heard the story of one lad who does not get the allowance going to the cinema with his friends from the course, all of whom do get the allowance. He did not have the price of admission but fair play to the other lads, they clubbed together to give him the money to get in. That is a result of the Minister of State's actions. It is cruel to cut the allowance and it is cruel that some get it while others do not.

Photo of Seán SherlockSeán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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The Minister of State is telling us that the status quowill remain and that he has no intention of reversing the cut. That is clear and unambiguous.

I take little comfort from his reply to the effect that each CHO within the HSE's regions would have flexibility to redirect its own savings to address local service requirements. All of us on this side of the House are used to dealing with the HSE at local level and we know that that money will go into the so-called black hole of Calcutta. It will not be redirected to the people who most need it. What the Minister of State is taking away from people is the modicum of independence for which they strive. The payment represents that independence, but it is being swiped from them and given to the CHOs. It is a disgraceful decision on his part and one that need not have been made. For the sake of ensuring equality within the system, everyone should have kept the right to retain the payment.

6:55 pm

Photo of Brendan  RyanBrendan Ryan (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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The HSE's proposal to cut the training allowance to make it equitable with mainstream ETBs does not stand up and should be rejected. This was acknowledged by a former Minister of State, Kathleen Lynch, in 2012 after a previous attempt by the HSE to cut the allowance. The same arguments were put forward, but Ms Lynch refuted them. That was during a time when many painful spending cuts were being made. The allowance was deemed worthy of protection in light of its value to people with disabilities.

The Government has signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The policy is to empower people with disabilities to live independent lives. The payment in question is perhaps the clearest example of a direct payment empowering people with disabilities to live independently. I cannot think of another example which reflects that need as clearly. The decision goes against the policy and makes no sense. It saves very little money and deprives people with disabilities of the opportunity to be independent and live the lives they want. It hits a group of people who already find it more difficult to take part in society. They deserve better than this. I call on the Minister of State to put this decision on hold and review it. No one is fooled - it is a money-saving measure by the HSE at the expense of the most vulnerable. I ask that the Minister of State stand up for them.

Photo of Finian McGrathFinian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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I reassure people with disabilities and their families that the phasing out of the bonus will not affect anyone currently attending rehabilitative training programmes, RTPs. That is the fact.

Photo of Margaret Murphy O'MahonyMargaret Murphy O'Mahony (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)
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We know that.

Photo of Brendan  RyanBrendan Ryan (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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Yes.

Photo of Finian McGrathFinian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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The HSE will continue to pay the €31.80 per week, or a pro rataamount based on attendance, to the more than 2,300 people currently attending RTPs until they complete their programmes in 2022.

Photo of Brendan  RyanBrendan Ryan (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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So, the payment will go over time.

Photo of Finian McGrathFinian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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The Deputy is ignoring the point that the redirection of the money that would have been spent on the bonus payments will allow the HSE to provide critical investment in the provision of day services to many people with disabilities who might otherwise have been disadvantaged due to a lack of access to services. The Government remains committed to providing services and supports for people with disabilities that will empower them to live independent lives, provide 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.

The commitments outlined in the programme for Government are guided by two principles, namely, equality of opportunity and improving the quality of life for people with disabilities. I assure the House that the decision to phase out the rehab training bonus payment was not taken lightly and was only done when assurances were given that any money saved would be used to ensure that all HSE-funded day services were provided on an equitable basis. We have 26,000 people attending day services every day who do not get this bonus at all. Does Deputy Brendan Ryan want me to pay them as well? Of course-----

Photo of Brendan  RyanBrendan Ryan (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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Will the Minister of State review the decision?

Photo of Finian McGrathFinian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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-----I would love to do so, but I have emergency places and day services to run and I want money for those.

Photo of Brendan  RyanBrendan Ryan (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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Will the Minister of State look at this decision again?

Photo of Finian McGrathFinian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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The action is designed to bring equity and consistency between people with disabilities attending HSE-funded RTPs who receive the payment and those attending HSE-funded day services or other State schemes, such as ETB schemes, who do not.

I will not take lectures from people who cut the respite care grant-----

Photo of Brendan  RyanBrendan Ryan (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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Will the Minister of State review the decision?

Photo of Finian McGrathFinian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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-----to 101,000 families when they were in power. That is what the Labour Party did.

Photo of Pat GallagherPat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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We are moving on.

Photo of Brendan  RyanBrendan Ryan (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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Will the Minister of State review it?

Photo of Finian McGrathFinian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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Labour Deputies should hang their heads in shame. In the HSE social care plan for this year-----

Photo of Pat GallagherPat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister of State's time has expired. I call Deputy Cassells.

Photo of Finian McGrathFinian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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-----we are spending €1.904 billion, an increase of 7.5% on last year's figure. This is an investment in services. Do not be distorting the truth to score political points.

Photo of Brendan  RyanBrendan Ryan (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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Will the Minister of State review the decision?

Photo of Seán SherlockSeán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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It is very disappointing to hear the Minister of State say that.