Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Gallagher for raising this important matter. Towards the end of this debate, we might go on a journey of my work in the area of transport to date.

The HSE provides specialist disability services, including day services and rehabilitative training, to people with disabilities who require such services. Transport is not considered a core specialist disability service. As such, day services funding does not include transport. However, as part and parcel of my work, I discovered that a minimum of €40 million a year is spent on transport in day services. A variety of transport solutions are pursued in different CHO areas. Where appropriate, travel training is provided to enable public transport to be used, where it can be used. I say that loosely. Other transport solutions include local publicly funded transport such as Local Link services, private bus transport and taxies. Some service providers provide transport where capacity exists. In certain cases, the overall funding for a person's day service may be reduced to provide access to specialist transport. To be honest, that is the last stone in the field. As far as I am concerned, where people are attending day services from 9.30 a.m. or 10 a.m. until 3 p.m., we should not be pulling that back to 2 p.m. in order to ensure that we can make transport work.

CHO 1 works with Local Link to provide a co-ordinated and efficient transport service for all service users going to day services operated or funded by the HSE. The HSE pays 90% of the cost of this day service transport with the remainder funded through passenger fares. The HSE has no remit to provide transport but recognises that services users living in rural areas would not be able to access services without transport supports.The partnership with transport providers commenced in Sligo and Leitrim in 2012. At the time, day services commenced collecting transport fares within the centre. However, some centres do not collect fares and to ensure equity, all passengers now pay fares with the system applied consistently across all the counties the Senator mentioned.

As this specific transport service is deemed a closed service by the Department of Transport, that is, not open to the general public but for HSE service users only, travel passes are not accepted. Service users who are using a public open Local Link bus route to get to their day services can use the free bus pass. However, the Leitrim model is not in existence in many of the counties across CHO 1 to be quite honest with the Senator. The outcome of the Leitrim model is only coming to its end stages now. It is being reviewed with the hope of having it expanded and rolled out further. At this moment in time, however, the Leitrim model is bespoke to Leitrim.

The charge collected on these closed routes contributes to the overall improvement in service delivery, including an increased number of routes, shorter journey times and improvement in the quality of vehicles used. The HSE service provided is safe and of the highest quality and provides door-to-door transport for people attending the HSE-funded services. It is fully accessible, the best value for money and co-ordinated and managed in a professional manner and it is reviewed continually to ensure shorter passenger journey times.

To be quite honest with the Senator, when I was in Dungloe in County Donegal in the middle of last year, I met with a number of service users who brought this particular issue to my attention. They quite justifiably told me about the inequity of what was being asked of them as service users, particularly Theresa, the main advocate who has since written to me in the last ten days. I am currently working on a model to remove that charge. I am having a feasibility study carried out on the costing of the charge to see exactly what it would cost to remove it. I will come back in on the supplementary response, but it is important for me to say that as I make my journeys around the country, I see that some service providers also have charges, perhaps not across entire CHOs but within their particular service provision. I am trying to uncover that as well.