Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 316, 317 and 319 together.

The HSE provides a range of assisted living services including Personal Assistant (PA) and Home Support Services (HSS) to support individuals to maximise their capacity to live full and independent lives.

PA and Home Support Services are provided either directly by the HSE or indirectly through a range of voluntary and private service providers. The majority of specialised disability provision (80%) is delivered through non-statutory sector service providers.

Home support services are provided to both children and adults with a wide range of disabilities from physical and sensory disabilities to intellectual disabilities and autism. The home support service for children with disabilities assists the child with various activities and supports the parent/family. Over 3 million home support hours are delivered to almost 7,200 people annually.

While many individuals are adequately provided for by their current level of support, it is also the case that many would benefit from more support hours if they were available.

Acknowledging this unmet need, the Action Plan for Disability Services 2024-2026 , published by my Department in December, commits to the delivery of 110,000 additional Home Support hours between 2024 and 2026 to address shortfalls in services and to support people with disabilities live at home, in line with Article 19 UNCRPD.

The overall guiding principle in the Action Plan is to work towards aligning service provision with the principles set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). This translates to putting people with disabilities at the heart of services, enabling independence and choice and supporting them to participate in the life of their community, with access to the supports they need, underpinned by a vision of a society that is fully inclusive of disabled people.

In light of this drive towards increased and improved services, the Stakeholder Strategic Advisory Group on Disability Services has been convened by DCEDIY to establish and drive collective discussion and a collective stakeholder approach to disability service transformation and expansion. Membership includes individuals nominated by the Disability Stakeholders Group (including DPOs), provider umbrella bodies, relevant Departmental and HSE officials, and the National Disability Authority. The Group will act in an advisory capacity and bring a problem-solving approach to driving progressive increases in service capacity, and to progressing reform in these services.

In addition, my Department is leading discussions at a whole-of-government level for the development and delivery of the next National Disability Strategy in 2024. As part of this work, and in line with obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, an extensive and robust stakeholder consultation process is underway, to ensure that the voices and perspectives of persons with disabilities are captured and represented in the Strategy. My officials are engaging on an ongoing basis with the DPO Network, the Disability Participation and Consultation Network and the Disability Stakeholder Group, along with other groups on a bilateral and multilateral basis.

Action 121 of the National Disability Inclusion Strategy committed DCEDIY to “develop programmes to promote awareness within the general public of the lived experience of, and to support more positive attitudes towards, people with disabilities”. This aligns strongly with an obligation set out in Article 8 of the UNCRPD for State Parties to engage in awareness raising.

A UNCRPD Disability Awareness Campaign which ran in late 2023 was aimed at highlighting the importance and shared responsibility of disability inclusion, and of raising recognition and understanding of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) in Ireland.

The key purpose of this awareness campaign is to reach people with disabilities as the primary audience with a simple but strong message: the UNCRPD contains human rights which all people with disabilities are entitled to have respected, protected and fulfilled.

As this question on person-centred planning refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible. The Deputy will likely be aware that the industrial action by certain Fórsa grades in the HSE has been suspended. The HSE has indicated that they have recommenced issuing replies to questions but there is a significant backlog of PQs and Reps to be responded to and has advised that they are working to get through these as soon as possible while at the same time managing the volume of current PQs and Reps.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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As this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible. The Deputy will likely be aware that the industrial action by certain Fórsa grades in the HSE has been suspended. The HSE has indicated that they have recommenced issuing replies to questions but there is a significant backlog of PQs and Reps to be responded to and has advised that they are working to get through these as soon as possible while at the same time managing the volume of current PQs and Reps.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

As this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible. The Deputy will likely be aware that the industrial action by certain Fórsa grades in the HSE has been suspended. The HSE has indicated that they have recommenced issuing replies to questions but there is a significant backlog of PQs and Reps to be responded to and has advised that they are working to get through these as soon as possible while at the same time managing the volume of current PQs and Reps.