Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am grateful for the opportunity to come to the House today to outline the situation with regard to Cuisle. I reassure Members of the House that there are no cuts to respite services and a lot of misinformation in that regard will be challenged in my contribution today. I welcome this opportunity to restate the Government's commitment to supporting people with disabilities and their families. As Minister of State with responsibility for disabilities, I am personally committed to providing services and supports that meet the needs of people with disabilities and empower them to live independent lives. I am determined to ensure that people with disabilities will have greater independence in accessing the services of their choice and to enhance their ability to tailor the supports required to meet their needs and plan their lives. This is my policy and that of the Government and it is one in which I strongly believe. At the heart of this policy is the principle of access to mainstream services and community living. My priority has always been the health and well-being of people with disabilities.

I am very aware of the concerns of service users and their families about the decision by the Irish Wheelchair Association to transition its holiday service from Cuisle to designated hotels in the west. I make it clear that this decision was made by the board of the Irish Wheelchair Association last month. It was not my decision and I have absolutely no connection with it, contrary to what has been said in the media by some people.Cuisle Accessible Holiday Resort is a commercial operation run by the Irish Wheelchair Association, IWA, from which, I am informed, the HSE purchases respite breaks that are provided by way of a service arrangement. I met the CEO of the IWA and HSE representatives on Tuesday, 12 November last to obtain the necessary assurances that service users will be fully accommodated in respect of what is fundamentally the IWA’s plan for a progressive and innovative way to meet the needs of people with a disability who wish to avail of holiday respite breaks. I challenged the IWA on that particular issue and the way the staff were given one month's notice. That is for the record of the House.

I believe in people-centred services, and the Irish Wheelchair Association stressed to me that the clear choice and preference of people with a disability is increasingly more about having a variety and choice, with access to positive and non-segregated settings where existing commercial hotel provider settings implement universal design initiatives to accommodate people of all levels of abilities. I was informed by the Irish Wheelchair Association that one of the significant drivers of the move towards a new model of care approach, whereby appropriately accessible hotels will be used, was that there has been a significant fall-off in numbers applying for breaks in Cuisle.

In recent years, there have been positive changes in accessibility standards in Ireland that now present a greater range of choice and options for people with disabilities seeking a holiday or respite. Consequently, there has been a shift in best practice approaches. This shift is reflected in current HSE policy under its policy document: Time to Move on from Congregated Settings: A Strategy for Community Inclusion. This year alone, in 2019, we are moving 132 people out of congregated settings. That is based on decisions by the disabled people themselves and backed up with funding from the HSE.

In line with this, Irish Wheelchair Association has decided to transition its holiday service in the west to provide accessible hotel holidays into the future, and to move away from its holiday facility at Cuisle, County Roscommon. The IWA did advise me at the meeting a couple of weeks back that Cuisle requires major capital development in respect of fire upgrade works estimated to be in the region of €1.5 million. The IWA has indicated that this level of capital funding is not available within its current resources. This, allied to the fall-off in numbers, convinced it that its new model of care approach was the right one. "Convinced it" is the phrase I emphasise.

Notwithstanding the requirement to ensure regulatory standards are maintained, the HSE has confirmed to the IWA that this level of capital investment is not considered viable in the context of other potential alternative service options and models from which to deliver respite services. The IWA, by partnering with accessible hotels, is planning to provide a wide range of choice to people with disabilities seeking to take a supported respite holiday in the west. This new and innovative service will commence in March 2020 in conjunction with the HSE. There are no cuts to respite services.

The IWA has been operating comparable hotel holiday breaks in Kilkenny since 2018 and has received positive feedback across the board from its guests. Its guests are people with a disability. In fact, 99% of guests said that they would return. This service was also shortlisted for an Irish Healthcare Centre award in 2019. The IWA hopes that, in the coming years, its accessible hotel holiday service will expand to key destinations throughout the country.

The move to the new holiday service will mean that the Cuisle buildings will not open in 2020. The IWA acknowledges the contribution of staff at Cuisle to the respite service in the west. Where possible, the IWA will offer redeployment opportunities to staff and is engaging with local staff members and their representatives to ensure minimum impact. That is a commitment that the Irish Wheelchair Association has given.

I have been asked to attend this debate this afternoon, and I am very happy to do so, because it is the first time I have been given an opportunity to put the facts on the record of the House. There should be no doubt for anyone listening or watching today about my commitment to people with disabilities and their families. I am immensely proud to be Minister of State with responsibility for disabilities. I have been inspired by the goals and achievements of the people I have met since my appointment, and I am more determined than ever to realise the priorities agreed by the Government and to continue to make the changes that are needed in this country.

It is very important in this debate that we listen to the voices of the people with disabilities and what they are saying. It is essential that we respect their voices, and I, as Minister of State, will reflect their voices in this debate. I will give the House three quotes from guests and given to me by the Irish Wheelchair Association: "staff excellent, food excellent, feel equal going on holidays with everyone else"; "I no longer feel like people with disabilities are put in a box"; and "It is excellent. You give us a great holiday, not just respite." I say to colleagues not to politicise this and do not try to use it to score political points. Do not go on radio stations misrepresenting the facts. There are no cuts to the respite services in Irish wheelchair services. There is a change of model that the IWA board itself has made. It told me at its meeting two weeks ago that it did it because it had the support of its own members. I hope to be able to answer further questions later on in this debate.