Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to thank the Senator for raising this important matter today. The Phoenix Centre in Longford is utilised for both adult and paediatric services, including a day respite service for adults aged 18 to 65 years; a children’s disability network team providing therapeutic family-centred clinical assessments and interventions for children with complex needs; and providing support to the carers, service providers and the local community with the emphasis on sharing resources, skills, knowledge and expertise.

The HSE has advised that community health organisation, CHO, 8 is developing plans to relocate certain services to Ballyminion, including the children’s disability network team. The HSE advises that work continues on progressing the proposed relocation, although it is not currently in a position to advise on a likely date for the relocation of the services. While awaiting this new accommodation, the Phoenix Centre has been made as suitable as possible to meet the demands of the services for children and adults with a disability in Longford, through a series of initiatives, such as the booking of all existing therapy space; the upgrading and reassignment of existing centre space, including the waiting areas to support the staff teams; and the booking of suitable external accommodation in order to provide for medium-to-large group or family training programmes. These initiatives are ongoing in line with health and safety policies and infection control guidelines. In addition, the HSE advise that analysis of all 12 networks in the CHO 8 region is ongoing to identify medium- to long-term options, which would provide a higher standard of accommodation for all network teams.

As I am sure the Senator is aware, capital spending in disability services in recent years has quite rightly focused on the continuation of the decongregation process leading to an unprecedented level of investment in disability services, with an investment of €100 million for new initiatives in 2021. The increased level of funding will enable the HSE to build on initiatives currently under way, including the decongregation programme, with a renewed focus on assisting people to move out of congregated settings to homes in the community. I am pleased to inform the Senator that CHO 8, in which Longford is located, received €10.4 million between 2016 and 2021 to fund decongregation projects. This level of funding was the second highest amount allocated to a CHO in that period. This spend resulted in 17 new decongregation units being completed in that time. This benefited 65 people moving from a congregated setting to independent living between 2018 and 2021 in the CHO 8 region, which is a significant achievement. I trust this clarifies the matters raised.