Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick East, Fine Gael)
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Question 87: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the number of adults and children currently residing in residential centres for people with disabilities; if she will provide a list of these centres; when she will introduce legislation to regulate and inspect residential centres for people with disabilities; the cost of same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25832/10]

John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The Health Service Executive estimates that there are 9,000 persons with disabilities resident in approximately 1,200 centres across the country, which includes approximately 150 centres that provide residential or respite care to some 300 children with disabilities. I have asked the HSE to furnish the Deputy with the most up to date list of these centres. As the Deputy will be aware, the National Quality Standards: Residential Services for People with Disabilities, published by the Health Information and Quality Authority in May 2009, relate to adult services. These standards will provide a national framework for quality, safe services for adults with disabilities in residential settings.

Given the current economic situation, to move to full statutory implementation of the standards, including regulation and inspection, presents significant challenges at this time. Notwithstanding the difficulties of immediate statutory implementation, my Department, the HSE and HIQA have agreed that progressive non-statutory implementation of the standards should commence and become the benchmark against which the HSE assesses both its own directly operated facilities and other facilities that the HSE funds.

The Department of Health and Children is liaising with the HSE in terms of implementing the HIQA standards on a progressive non-statutory basis within existing resources. Currently every service provider is required, as part of its service level agreement with the HSE, to have appropriate mechanisms in place to assess quality and standards for the delivery of all services. This agreement requires all service providers to comply with relevant legislation, statutory regulations, codes of practice and agreed guidance documents in relation to the standards associated with the service in question. Providers of care are required to set out in detail the specific actions or plans to maintain and monitor quality and service standards. Examples of such actions would include audit tools appropriate to the service, service and service user evaluations and satisfaction surveys. The Department is also engaged in ongoing discussions with HIQA regarding the resources which would be required to implement a mandatory scheme of registration and inspection of residential services for persons with disabilities.

In tandem with this work, and arising from the Ryan Commission report, the Department of Health and Children is preparing detailed proposals in relation to the protection of vulnerable adults with disabilities who are currently in institutional care. I will be bringing these proposals to Government in the near future.

Children with disabilities in generic residential centres under the Child Care Act 1991 are covered by the standards and inspection regimes already applying to those centres. There are a number of other centres providing residential or respite care to children with disabilities. Children who reside in these centres are not in the care of the State, although they are cared for by the State. The majority of these centres are run by voluntary organisations funded by the HSE and are not included in the inspection regime under the Child Care Act 1991. In relation to the children with disabilities in these other residential centres, the Ryan Commission report recommends that "all services for children should be subject to regular inspections in respect of all aspects of their care". The implementation plan for the recommendations of the Ryan Commission report contains a commitment that the Health Act 2007 will be commenced to allow the independent registration and inspection of all residential centres and respite services for children with a disability by December 2010.