Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for attending. My Commencement matter seeks clarity from the Department of Health on its commitment to capital funding for a permanent national rehabilitative day centre for people who have a severe acquired brain injury, and specifically to making that funding available to Teach an Saol, the most amazing service and facility, which is in operation in Santry, north Dublin.

Teach an Saol started providing day services to people with a severe acquired brain injury in 2020. It was born out of love and necessity, the love of one family for their son and brother and the necessity for him to be able to lead a life worth living following a severe acquired brain injury. Pádraig was a young man who was living his life to the full and, out of nowhere and through no act of his own, his life was stopped for a moment. Through the intervention of his parents and family, how, despite having a severe acquired brain injury, he is living a full life. The Schaler family and Teach an Saol believe a life saved is a life worth living. They are passionate about ensuring that every life saved following a severe acquired brain injury through the amazing advances that have been made with neuroscience and neurotechnology will be worth living.

Teach an Saol enables people with a severe acquired brain injury to live a fuller life. It provides them and their families with support in the form of therapies, including physical, occupational, cognitive and psychological. It is a day centre where people with severe acquired brain injuries and their families can go and receive specialised, appropriate therapies that help them regain the power to lead a life worth living. That is not a small thing but it is something we take for granted every day. We are so privileged and so lucky. The work Teach an Saol has done is inspirational and pioneering. It has not been done anywhere else. Since 2020, 28 individuals and their families have benefited from these transformational services and supports. It is truly inspirational and I would advise anybody to visit the centre. I am humbled to be able to speak on the organisation's behalf.

I thank the Department and Minister for Health and the HSE for the support they have given to Teach an Saol. They have provided the funding, initially for a pilot, which has been extended. The pilot was evaluated by the HSE and its findings are overwhelmingly positive. They call for a permanent commitment to this service not just in Santry but for it to be rolled out nationally. These are not just the views of the HSE. Many expert views from throughout the world have examined and evaluated the services being provided and have all concluded these services are groundbreaking and need to be supported. My ask is that the Department would commit capital funding for a permanent home for Teach an Saol in Dublin.

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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I thank the Senator for raising this important matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte. Teach An Saol provides a valuable service to a number of clients with a severe acquired brain injury, offering an intensive and inclusive neurological and rehabilitation programme informed by best international practice. Funding for individual capital projects is an operational matter for the HSE, which has advised the Department of Health of the position on capital funding as follows.

All Exchequer-funded HSE capital projects must be progressed through correct governance procedures in line with HSE protocols and the public spending code. In this regard, when submitting a capital submission for consideration, there must be a full business case in place alongside a detailed options appraisal, a project brief, robust cost estimates and a comparison of various options to ensure the correct project approach is chosen and value for money is secured. Once a project has been approved at the HSE’s national capital and property steering committee, it is approved only subject to funding. Given that many competing needs and projects are put forward from throughout the country, the project then becomes subject to a prioritisation process each year. No funding, therefore, is allocated to a project until it is prioritised. The prioritisation process for funding allocation in 2024 has happened and funding has been allocated accordingly.

The Teach An Saol development proposal was first highlighted to HSE capital and estates in August 2023 and the requirements for a capital submission and the suite of supporting documents were issued at the time. A series of meetings were held between HSE CHO Dublin north city and county and Teach an Saol. Teach an Saol has been informed about the process and the requirement for appropriate and detailed submissions to ensure the project will be included in the next round of prioritisation for capital funding allocation in 2025. CHO Dublin north city and county has also confirmed to Teach an Saol that it may be assisted to seek the seed capital funding to progress the project and allow it to engage with all relevant stakeholders regarding suitable sites and other issues to be addressed. HSE capital and estates is keen to assist in the project initiation process and has allocated resources to do so but needs to ensure the submission is of sufficient quality and detail to ensure it will be approved subject to funding.

The Minister of State with responsibility for disabilities holds capital project development in disability services as one of her key priorities and wants to ensure capital projects are delivered on time and on budget and that value for money is achieved in order that projects such as Teach an Saol can provide valuable services for citizens.

Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for the reply. I welcome the commitment from not just the Department but also the HSE to supporting the project in progressing to access capital funding. Teach an Saol was created from nothing by people who had no resources or expertise in this space, and what it has achieved in the four years can be replicated as a capital project. I urge the Department to encourage the HSE to work with it. It has an innovative approach and they are creative people, and the quality of the services provided and the potential for it to be extended nationally have been thoroughly validated.I would also ask that the project is not treated as a local service to north Dublin where it has been incredibly valuable, but recognised as a national service because this service has national and international potential. I would be satisfied if we can get it into the national capital projects list for 2025 but we need to progress this and match their ambition and energy.

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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Neuro-rehabilitation services play a critical role in supporting recovery and-or maximising the ability of those with neurological conditions, including those with acquired brain injury, and the Government remains committed to the continued implementation of the neuro-rehabilitation strategy.

The overarching aim of the strategy is the development of neuro-rehabilitation services to improve patient outcomes by providing safe high-quality person-centred neuro-rehabilitation at the lowest appropriate level of complexity. This must be integrated across the care pathway and provided as close to home as possible or in specialist centres, where necessary.

These services are to be configured into population-based managed clinical rehabilitation networks. The overarching aim is the development of population-based MCRNs around the country. In delivering on this commitment, additional funding has been provided in successive budgets to support the continued roll-out of the strategy.

The Minister of State with responsibility for disabilities would like to assure all that she is very aware that there remains much unmet need in this area and she is committed to building services and developing better and more accessible supports for people with neurological conditions.