Imelda Henry (Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, for coming to the House to deal with the motion. It is almost two years since the publication of the independent Trinity College report, There's No Place Like Home, a cost outcomes analysis of alternative models of care for young children with severe disabilities in Ireland. It recommended that the HSE fill the estimated gap of almost €2 million to enable the expansion of Jack and Jill Children's Foundation care provision to children aged six, the age at which children begin to receive care through expanded Government programmes, rather than cutting off this service to children when they reach the age of four years. Apparently, there are cases where children have finished with Jack and Jill services but where the HSE is neither willing nor able to provide the vital home care plan required for these children and their families. One case has gone all the way to the Ombudsman for Children.

It is hard to believe that the State has no national budget for pediatric home nursing care. This is shocking in this day and age when we all know it makes sense to care for children with life-limiting conditions at home, thereby saving millions of euro for the taxpayer by keeping the children out of hospital where they might unnecessarily block beds. Now is the time to reconsider the recommendations from the Trinity report and to further analyse why it makes sense for the Jack and Jill programme to extend its age criteria. When one sits down and calculates the return from investing in the Jack and Jill Children's Foundation by extending its age criteria to children aged up to six years, and the resulting money and hassle that would be saved to the State, the answer must be a resounding Yes. The main beneficiaries of such a move would be, of course, the children. The State must stop looking at the Jack and Jill Children's Foundation as an annoying little children's charity looking for a handout. It provides a vital service in the home within every community in Ireland. It gets a five-star rating from parents and saves the State millions of euro every year by keeping babies out of hospitals.

The Trinity report showed the cost effectiveness and quality of the Jack and Jill service. The foundation is ready, willing and able to provide what parents want and has the reach, flexibility and know-how to design care plans for children up to the age of six. This is something the HSE has not shown itself capable of doing in a consistent and acceptable manner across the country.

I appeal to the Minister of State to meet with the Jack and Jill Children's Foundation, which has a proven expertise in this field. It is a voluntary body that saves the State millions of euro. It would cost the State €40.5 million per annum if the 275 children currently under the wing of Jack and Jill landed back in hospital beds. That is based on the Trinity report figure of €147,000 per annum for hospital care. The foundation provides a service, indeed a lifeline, to families with the most desperately ill children. In an age where we are more than conscious of fiscal constraints, we must give this the most serious consideration and do what is best for the children and families involved.