I thank Senator Gallagher for raising this important matter. Towards the end of this debate, we might go on a journey of my work in the area of transport to date. The HSE provides specialist disability services, including day services and rehabilitative training, to people with disabilities who require such services. Transport is not considered a core specialist disability service. As such, day services funding does not include transport. However, as part and parcel of my work, I discovered that a minimum of €40 mi…

I was very fortunate to secure an additional €5 million in budget 2024 specifically for transport. Both the Department and I are banging our heads together at the moment. However, I am very clear that there are three elements within all of this, one of which would be to remove the inequality whereby people have to pay to attend a day service. The second element is with regard to upgrading some of the fleet within our service providers in once-off funding. The third part would be to work with the likes of Independen…

I am very happy to be here to address some of the issues raised in the Private Members' motion on carers. Support for carers is a topic that is always on the agenda and it is, of course, an enormously important one that comprises so many different cross-departmental issues. It covers not just health and social care supports but also income supports and housing, as the Deputies clearly identified. My colleague the Minister of State, Deputy Colm Burke, will later set out some of the policies, supports and initiatives…

Can I correct something there, if the Ceann Comhairle does not mind?

That is not correct. If your clinician deems that you are medically in need, there is a one-page medical application form that is sent from the consultant directly to the HSE where it is approved within 24 hours.

No.

No.

Sound bite. Well done.

Is the Deputy referring to respite beds for older persons?

I thank Deputy Tully for raising this question. It will be the second time today I address her, after being in committee earlier. The CDNT recruitment campaign, Be part of our team, Be part of their lives, has closed across CHOs. To date, 190 job offers have been made and 55 individuals are currently in the final stages of recruitment. Funding has been provided in recent years for additional posts to enhance the capacity of CDNTs and to shorten the waiting times. The funding amounts to a total of 800 whole-time equ…

The date for the publication of the 2023 staff census will be in the next two weeks. While I do not have a specific figure for Cavan and Monaghan, I know that for CHO 1, which covers the Cavan and Monaghan areas, there were 88 people who expressed interest. As to what measures are being taken, the national team development of the programme is holding lunchtime webinars. There are confined senior-grade competitions going on. It is marketing the CDNT as a workplace of choice. There are human resources engagements wit…

Regarding the right front door, it is called the national access policy, NAP. This is a HSE policy document. Under the leadership of Bernard Gloster I have seen huge improvements in communication between primary healthcare, CAMHS, acute services and disability services. They are talking to one another and not working in silos. Granted, there are variances across the country. Some are working really well and others could do with improvement. That policy is being rolled out. It is totally understood at a senior level…

It is not.

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. The Government and the HSE are very much aware of the importance of respite service provision for the families of both children and adults with disabilities and the positive impact it can have on people’s lives. Respite is a key priority area for the HSE for people with disabilities and their families, and there has been significant investment in respite services in recent years. New development funding of €15 million in 2024, specifically for respite, will ensure provisi…

There is no doubt that we have had challenges with recruiting staff. Funding has been provided. The Deputy has mentioned all the brilliant organisations in his area. When they are working at full tilt in the Cork area, they are providing 10,000 bed nights on an annual basis. That is just Cork alone. He talked about Enable's Lavanagh House. That has not got full capacity yet. It is operating four days out of seven and it is in a position to go to seven out of seven on the provision that it can recruit the staff. To …

There is no doubt that respite is not one-size-fits-all. Respite needs to be a suite of measures whether it is after-school, Saturday clubs, sibling clubs or holiday camps as well as the in-home support, the residential part of it, the shared care and the home support. It is a suite of measures. Where families are finding that the in-home support is not actually meeting their needs, that is the dialogue required to move to the next level or the next rung of the ladder, as I call it, of what is available in the suit…

Both the Government and the HSE acknowledge the ongoing challenges faced with the delivery of therapies for children with autism and their families. Disability services are provided based on the presenting needs of an individual assessment according to the person’s requirements and care needs. The HSE is focused on implementing the actions of the PDS roadmap which will target enhancing capacity in our health service to deliver much needed therapies, including to those with autism. With specific regard to therapies,…

When looking at the alternatives, the Deputy is right about the AAC devices. That is why we funded AsIAm this year to purchase more assistive technology devices. The HSE and the Department of Education are purchasing in whole. AsIAm will purchase the guts of 600 devices to be made available to children. Not only will they be made available to children, but they will also be enhanced with speech and language as part and parcel of it. The Deputy and I are very aware of the trikes. It is important this evening to ackn…

I would say he would.

My own connection with Variety is that I fund them. For clarity, it is the guts of €440,000 annually.