Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising the issue again. She is very passionate about it and she is working on it. I will read the response and we can discuss it afterwards.

Holy Angels Day Care Centre is a disability agency providing services, including a preschool service for children with disabilities, in Carlow. The facility is funded on an annual basis by the HSE under section 39 of the Health Act. It received funding of approximately €720,000 in 2015. Respite services for the parents of children in Carlow were previously provided by Tír na nÓg in Carlow. Since 2013, the services delivered by Holy Angels and Tír na nÓg came under the remit of the independent regulatory body, HIQA, regarding the standards of care being delivered. In December 2015, the Holy Angels Day Care Centre advised HIQA and the HSE of the decision of the board of management to close the centre from January 2016 after they had received notice from the landlord. On 16 December 2015, the HSE disability services manager wrote to the Holy Angels Day Care Centre requesting it to develop a plan regarding an alternative approach to respite service provision to be completed in consultation with families, notifying them of the discontinuation of the existing respite service. The families were also informed that they would be invited to meetings in January 2016 regarding respite services.

Tír na nÓg provided respite breaks to 42 children and their families with each client being offered a one to two night respite break every three months with the service open six nights per month. The children range from 18 months to 18 years and have a range of mild to severe disabilities. There are additional children on the waiting list. To address current respite provision requirements, as the Senator rightly said, in March 2016 an alternative respite provision was set up in partnership with the HSE and Holy Angels. This is currently being provided via Holy Angels in the Delta Centre as an interim arrangement. The service is to be reviewed in December 2016 and is committed to until February 2017. HSE estates are seeking to purchase or rent suitable accommodation for future service provision. Should the HSE find a suitable residence for respite in either County Carlow or County Kilkenny, services will be provided to families from both Carlow and Kilkenny from that location until purpose built accommodation is completed.

The long-term intention of the HSE is to develop a new purpose built respite service for County Carlow, but this must be considered in the context of overall priority requirements for capital spending within disability services. The €20 million capital funding available in 2016 has been prioritised for a number of large congregated residential centres which will not meet HIQA residential standards. The matter of providing overnight respite services to families of Carlow and Kilkenny is of key importance to the HSE. On 28 September 2016, the head of service social care, Carlow-Kilkenny, and other key personnel met with representatives from an external voluntary agency to consider a proposal to use its premises. Further meetings have since taken place with Carlow parents. A venue for respite service delivery has been agreed and is being finalised on a two-year lease. The respite tender document is currently being reviewed by the health business services, HBS, procurement department. A meeting was scheduled for 11 November 2016 with HBS procurement and disability services management to finalise the document. The tender process will be advertised in due course.

While I cannot give the Senator exact dates, I will bring it back to the relevant Minister and ask him to update her when the dates are made available.