John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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SOS Services in Kilkenny has been delivering essential day and residential services for almost 50 years. It provides an excellent service. It is run by a very efficient chief executive who assists in a very direct way all of the families concerned. Last year the HSE gave a once-off allocation of €540,000 to cover the once-off costs that SOS Kilkenny was experiencing at the time. This €540,000 payment should be repeated again this year because SOS Kilkenny finds itself under extreme pressure to meet all of the costs it faces.

As has the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach, I have come from a meeting of the finance committee where we heard the cost of heating increased in one Department by 70%. We can imagine the cost of services and wages across the board and the difference between section 38 and section 39 bodies. Bodies such as SOS Kilkenny are under enormous pressure. The extension of this is that the pressure then builds up on the families concerned. Some people are now elderly and they find it extremely difficult to cope. They would not be able to cope at all if it were not for SOS Kilkenny.

I have tabled this matter to ask the Minister to repeat the grant of €540,000. I ask that the Minister look at the number of cases that are now with the Department of Health seeking funding for individual cases and families. They are often referred to as business cases but this dehumanises what is going on. These are families struggling with members who have a disability. Some families have more than one child with a disability. Bodies such as SOS Kilkenny stand in the gap, representing the HSE as it were, and delivering very good services.

The fact that so many requests made of the Department for the funding of individual cases are not answered is absolutely despicable. We are dealing with the most vulnerable people in society. It is similar to the CAMHS issue. The parents of young people cannot access the services they require, and it is not tomorrow or in a month's time that they require these services but now. It seems the State is deaf to the calls of the public representatives to provide the funding and professionals necessary to deliver the services required.

On behalf of SOS Kilkenny, all of the families concerned that are under pressure, and the manager of SOS Kilkenny, Francis Coughlan, who is an excellent example of good management, I ask the Department to respond to the request for €540,000. I also ask it to fast-track some of the cases that have been before it for the past four or five years. I want to make it clear to the Minister for Health that in raising this issue today in the Dáil I am reflecting the views of all of the families concerned, the staff concerned and the manager.

I want to add to this the need for respite. This has been going on for far too long. It needs to be funded and delivered. I will ask again and again for delivery of this amount of money.

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy McGuinness for raising this important matter on behalf of SOS Kilkenny, a service provider in his constituency. It has done great work for more than 40 years. It provides a range of services for individuals, supporting them to develop and utilise their abilities to be active and valued members of their communities, leading a life of their choosing.

I am taking this debate on behalf of the Minister of State with responsibility for disabilities, Deputy Anne Rabbitte.

The Minister of State with responsibility for disabilities, Deputy Rabbitte, on whose behalf I am taking this debate, is very much aware of the significant demands for service provision in the disability sector. She has sought to provide additional funding to address a range of programmes in recent budgets and is keen to build on work commenced with the disability capacity review. I took up the specific issue of SOS with Deputy Rabbitte before the debate today. I spoke to her and her officials. She is currently considering all applications, and no final decisions have been made. However, I have spoken to her specifically on the Deputy's request about SOS. It obviously has an application in now for a similar amount of funding to last year - €540,000. The Minister is well aware of that and the great work it does.

Funding of almost €2.8 billion for disability services has been allocated for 2024, providing the basis to continue to improving access to enhanced disability services throughout the country. The overall increase in recent years from €1.7 billion at the close of 2017 to close to €2.8 billion in 2024 reflects the programme for Government commitment to improving the lives of people with disabilities, signalling to those with a disability that this Government is serious about making a difference. In 2023, the HSE national service plan provides for an additional 43 residential places as well as 23 residential care packages to young people ageing out of Tusla services. In 2023, €6.7 million new development funding was made available to further expand respite services. I note Deputy McGuinness's strong advocacy in the area of respite. The Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, and the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, are fully aware of the importance of respite.

As of September 2023, 8,355 residential places are being provided to some of our most vulnerable members of society. I note that, in 2023, this Government provided €100 million in once-off non-pay inflationary support payments to community-based voluntary organisations in recognition of the challenges that these organisations were experiencing as a result of increasing energy, heating and related costs. The HSE has management and oversight responsibilities for the funding provided for specialist disability services. This includes the allocation of funding at CHO level to a range of providers and services. With regard to County Kilkenny specifically, I am informed by the HSE that currently it supports the provision of 955 residential places across the community health organisation, CHO, 5.

Going back to the Deputy's key request on behalf of SOS Kilkenny for the once-off funding to be provided this year too, he has told us the business case for respite care and about the timeframe for taking on cases, and we all deal with that. I know it is a priority with the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, and the Minister, Deputy Donnelly. I have spoken with the Minister of State about the Deputy's specific request on SOS Kilkenny. She is considering that whole area with regard to funding and would hope to have a decision made on that in the not-too-distant future.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister of State is well aware of the services provided by people in SOS and the struggles of families, because she spoke to Francis Coughlan and is aware that they have put everything they possibly can into what they do as individuals delivering those services. They go the extra mile. The families go the extra mile and the support is there for them, although that support has diminished in terms of funding. Without the co-operation of SOS and the families concerned, some may well be institutionalised or put into some form of long-term care, and that is not acceptable. My request for the €540,000 for the respite house and the acknowledgement of the section 38 and section 39 issue and how it is going to be addressed for the future is essential for the continuance of this service. It is not just an ask I have dreamed up. It is coming from all of the families. It is coming from Francis Coughlan, and it is recognised as an organisation that has brought initiative to this. It has brought vision to this sector, and is without doubt giving value for money for every single thing it does. The new cases the organisation is asking to be funded have gone on too long, as I have said already.

The Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, from her experience of having visited SOS, knowing the manager and knowing what people do there, should without any further delay fund the cases that have been there for a long period. That is not much to ask. It is assisting families and individuals to live a more fulfilled life. That is what we should be funding. Organisations like SOS that are willing to get the funding and use it efficiently and properly and in a way to get more value for money are the organisations we should be funding. I ask that the Minister of State be told to make an early decision about this through the HSE and to take the pressure off those families and off the SOS organisation.

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I again thank Deputy McGuinness for raising the important matter of supports for people with disabilities, in particular SOS Kilkenny. The Deputy speaks about respite care and the business cases, and I take his point that it is about services for individual humans. I note his request that all three decisions be taken as quickly as possible. As I have said, the need for the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, to support organisations is recognised in the €100 million inflationary support fund in 2023. We also note, as has the Deputy, that SOS Kilkenny received once-off funding last year. I have outlined the significant investment in disability services and referenced the disability capacity review. The forthcoming disability action plan details how the recommendations of the capacity review will be implemented in the coming years.

In 2021, the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte published the disability capacity review, which outlined the capacity and needs for a growing and ageing population and increasing demand for specialised needs, including residential services and care up to 2032. The aim of all our efforts is to support those with a disability and with specialised needs to live ordinary lives in ordinary places.

The Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, is fully aware of SOS Kilkenny. I think she has visited it, and has obviously met with the CEO, Francis Coughlan. She is fully aware of the great work the organisation does. I had a discussion with the Minister of State and her advisers before I came in because I wanted to update Deputy McGuinness. I am fully aware that funding is under consideration with the HSE and it is looking to make a decision as quickly as possible. I thank the Deputy again.