Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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2175. To ask the Minister for Health the status of negotiations between the HSE and a group (details supplied) regarding the provision of services which continues to cause uncertainty and distress for service users and their families; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36859/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy will be aware, Saint John of God Community Services clg (SJOGCS) has given the HSE 12 months’ notice of its intention to terminate its Section 38 arrangement with a view to transferring responsibility for the provision of disability and mental health services to the State by 1 October 2021.

My foremost concern, which is shared by the HSE, is to ensure the continuity of appropriate disability services delivery by SJOGCS in line with strong governance mechanisms in a cost-effective and equitable manner consistent with care and support needs.

To this end, the HSE has established a Joint Governance Committee and a Joint Implementation Committee to plan for the orderly transfer of services to the HSE covering:

a. Services

b. Finance and Assets

c. Communications

d. Human Resources.

I am very conscious that SJOGCS has played a significant role in the delivery of vital disability services and supports to service users and their families across the State for many years and the key focus at present is to ensure that the organisation is facilitated to maintain its important service delivery role into the future in line with a reformed model of care.

Accordingly, in parallel with the work on the transition plan, the HSE is encouraging SJOGCS to engage in a Sustainability Impact Assessment, which would provide the organisation with a pathway to financial and operational sustainability and enable the organisation to remain in service provision.

I would like to assure the Deputy that the needs of services users and their families are at the forefront of all considerations and decision-making in relation to the reform process. In this regard, I am advised that the HSE is closely engaging with the families of service users in relation to the overall process.