Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is great to see the Deputy Leader, Senator Regina Doherty, here today. I wish her well.

I want to raise the issue of St. John of God but at the outset I want to thank the Cathaoirleach for selecting this as a Commencement matter tomorrow. What I will speak on tomorrow is slightly different from what I will talk about today. I wish to flag a very serious issue, which is the services of the Hospitaller Order of St. John of God. It is dealing with 8,000 customer service users, 3,000 members of staff and hundreds of volunteers. We now have a crisis in this organisation and it is not the first time we have discussed this and heard about this crisis. It has been going on for a few years. One can follow the media reports and other reports in regard to the service. I refer to Saturday's The Irish Times, which carried a very good question and answer article on the difficulties in regard to this crisis. It appears there may be some resolution, although we do not know as it is being negotiated. However, it is not good enough that there is a reliance by the State on one service provider to provide this level of services for the disability sector over a range of areas.

I received emails today from Dublin, Kildare, and Kerry. Members will be delighted to know that the biggest volume was from the St. John of God services in Kerry. I also received emails from Wicklow, Meath and Louth. We have a crisis.

While we might have a short-term solution in the propping up of finances, we need to look again at why one organisation is responsible for 8,000 people, mainly in institutional care settings. It poses a massive challenge to us in the longer term. I ask that Members have a briefing from the relevant Minister. I am aware that this issue touches on health and disability but we should have a briefing from the relevant Minister on this crisis.

More important, I want to hear of a transitional plan that will move many of these people into more appropriate care settings and back as close to their communities as possible. We rely solely on one provider and face a crisis, and by golly we have a crisis on our hands. Many of the families affected work in this very building. They have contacted me today to say they are deeply concerned. I ask for an information briefing - not a debate - on the facts as they are today.