Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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187. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the steps he is taking to provide respite services for disabled people in County Cork. [39322/24]

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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The Cork Regional Children’s Respite Forum, established in 2022, manages referrals and the allocation of respite and/or home supports for children, with complex disabilities, up to the age of 18 years and who are in receipt of services from a CDNT. Children’s Disability Services are acutely aware of the demand for respite services and has significantly invested in respite services in recent years.

The Cork children’s respite forum has received a total of 507 applications between April 2023 and September 2024. Of this total, 116 were re-applications for additional 6 week blocks of respite. The waiting list of children to receive a respite service for the first time through the forum was 52 as at September, 2024.

Cork Kerry Disability Services has commissioned respite from the Rainbow Club who are currently providing 6 week blocks of respite services in the Cork area. The Rainbow Club provides for after-school supports, social groups, teen supports, adapted sports and additional activities on Saturdays. It is estimated that approximately 4,000 hours will be delivered in 2024.

In Cork, overnight respite services for children under 18 years of age with an intellectual disability, physical disability or autism are delivered by a range of organisations: namely, Cope Foundation, Enable Ireland, St. Josephs Foundation, CoAction and the Brothers of Charity. There are a total of 29 beds.

In 2023 CKCH provided funding to Enable Ireland to increase respite for children in the Lavanagh Centre, Curraheen. This resulted in an increase in bed nights from 138 bed nights in early 2023 to an expected 552 bed nights per annum from 2024 onwards.

There is also a number of sessions of day respite provided to children which consists of a centre based day and outreach services for children. Day respite is provided in a variety of ways and settings such as in the home, in the community, during holiday time, as home share with host families and through after school services.

Residential respite services for adults in Cork is delivered by Brothers of Charity, COPE Foundation, St Joseph’s Foundation, CoAction, Enable Ireland, RehabCare and Abode. 88 residential respite beds comprising 28 full time places and 60 part-time places are provided.

Cork Kerry Community Healthcare’s Disability Services have worked to improve access to residential (overnight) respite services for adults with disabilities in Cork in recent years. This has resulted in the establishment of a regional respite house for those residing in Cork which provides 5 beds on a full-time basis.

CKCH continues to invest in respite services, proactively seek alternative respite models and utilise all available funding to provide respite services for all children and adults who require them. CKCH are working with service providers to create new residential and alternative respite supports for children and adults in 2024.