Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change)
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Last Thursday, I was contacted by constituents, parents and service users about St. Michael's House, 18 Cromwellsfort Road, Dublin 12. A man who has Apert syndrome and has relied on the service for approximately 20 years was advised on Wednesday that he would have to arrange his own transport to get to the service. Heretofore, buses used to transport service users from 8 a.m. to 10 a. m. and 2.30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Staff at St. Michael's House, which is a section 38 facility funded by the HSE, are also distraught by this situation.

I contacted St. Michael's House and the transport manager. I was advised that due to the Covid situation, a number of drivers in their late 50s and 60s have not come back to work because of health reasons and replacing them has become an issue. There is also the issue of not being able to recruit escorts. I spoke to the manager of the transport section, who was very helpful, about recruitment and retention and he advised that driver numbers are down by nearly one third. He would usually be able to get relief drivers but they are not available either. The whole situation has dried up.

There is a short-term and long-term crisis. In the short term, they need to be able to get the service user to the centre over the next period of time. Service users have not been able to use the service since last Thursday. The transport manager suggested that taxis should be provided to services users in the short term but the funding is not available. Special funding would need to be provided for that in the interim or a system of sharing buses from other services would need to be worked out.

In the long term, drivers need to be trained to the level of D1 - minibus drivers - and it needs to be done quickly. It is taking the Road Safety Authority at least eight weeks to perform tests. Garda vetting will also have to be done and then the training. Therefore, it will not happen today or tomorrow. This will be a long-term resolution. Carers need a Quality and Qualifications Ireland, QQI, level 5 qualification to escort the service users. I have been advised that the past two and a half months were worse than the two and a half years of the Covid pandemic. The transport manager had 43 buses running before Covid and has only 29 running now.

As I said, funding will be required in the short term to provide an interim service to the centre's service users and a long-term plan is needed to get transport for these services back on the road again. The Minister has to sit down with the transport manager and representatives from St. Michael's House. I know it is affecting other units, although the unit up the road, St. Michael's House at 107 Cromwellsfort Road, has no problems, I presume because they held on to their drivers since the Covid pandemic. These service users and parents cannot be left in a lacuna, not accessing services. This is not on and it has to be resolved.

Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Collins for raising this issue and I want to set out a few relevant points. The Department of Health and the HSE provide specialist disability services, including day services and rehabilitative training, to people with disabilities who require such services. The provision or management of transport services does not fall within the remit of the Department of Health nor is it a service for which the HSE has responsibility or provides funding. Therefore, day service funding and supports do not include the provision of transport services.

Having said that, some transport supports are provided by the HSE or by funded agencies on a discretionary basis, and a variety of transport solutions are pursued in different community healthcare organisation, CHO, areas. These include travel training to enable public transport to be used upon commencement of a day programme where applicable; local transport such as Local Link, private bus transport providers and taxis, funded via a combination of service provider, HSE funding, service user contribution, and-or combined funding; and some service providers providing transport where capacity exists.

I should point out that, in general, day service users are in receipt of disability allowance and are automatically entitled to a free travel pass. There are improvements in access to a range of transport supports available to persons with disabilities in the State, for example, the disabled drivers and disabled passengers scheme operated by the Revenue Commissioners; the free travel scheme operated by the Department of Social Protection; and CLÁR funding, approved by the Minister for Rural and Community Development to voluntary organisations providing transport for people with significant mobility issues. Under the National Disability Inclusion Strategy 2017-2021, the Department of Transport has responsibility for the continued development of accessible public transport.

The Deputy raised some pertinent issues such as the fact that driver numbers are down by one third, the training of drivers could take up to eight weeks, the issues of Garda vetting as well as funding for the provision of taxis. I will raise the Deputy's concerns with the Minister. It will involve a cross-departmental approach. This is an issue and it is an anomaly. What people need to do now is try to iron out this complex but resolvable issue with the relevant stakeholders and Departments.

Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change)
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I welcome the Minister of State’s response, but it is important to get those stakeholders together as quickly as we can because I believe it is resolvable. From my point of view, it is about the people who need the service and the transport. As I said, an older man who had been using the services for 20 years was told, all of a sudden, that he no longer had transport. He cannot physically get onto public transport.

I welcome this response. It should be done in the next week or two to address the short-term and long-term issues. Securing drivers seems to be a big issue even in Bus Éireann and other bus companies. When I was talking to the manager of the transport sector, a guy in private transport was also there who said that he has 48 buses but was only operating 32 now because he does not have the staff. They have not been able to get people in to take up those jobs. There has to be a logical and planned approach to dealing with this issue. When will the Minister of State get that pulled together?

Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I will raise it with the relevant Departments and see what we can do. Perhaps the Deputy could send an email requesting the meeting because it is a cross-departmental area. I understand there was some issue with the allocation of this Topical Issue matter. The Department of Health has asserted the issue at St. Michael's House developed due to a combination of factors as outlined by the Deputy.

In this case, a recent driver retirement and other long-term vacancies meant that St. Michael's House could no longer sustain the route, which the Deputy mentioned. The process of establishing more detailed information on the service is under way between the Department of Health and the HSE. My colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, will be happy to follow up with the Deputy on this matter.

Action 104 of the national disability inclusion strategy, NDIS, contains a commitment to review all Government funded transport and mobility supports, and develop proposals for better co-ordination in the space. The transport working group, chaired by the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, met most recently in September 22. Members of the group have been requested to submit proposals to fulfil the requirement of action 104 for consideration by the group at its next and final meeting in November 2022. It is intended that a report and proposal will be prepared and submitted before the current NDIS comes to an end on 31 December 2022. As I said, the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, will be happy to follow up with Deputy Smith on this matter. If she wants to send me an email I can forward that to the Department.