Dail Éireann · 2024-06-18
Party shown is the one held on 2024-06-18, frozen at parse time — not the speaker's party today.
I ask the Minister if he is aware of the critical shortage of personal assistant hours for people with disabilities across the State, and the reason a person whose details have been supplied has been put in a position where they receive no PA support two days a week and only half-day support for two other days. Acknowledging this unmet need, the Action Plan for Disability Services 2024-2026, published by the Department in December, commits to the delivery of 110,000 additional home support hours between 2024 and 2026 to address shortfalls in services and support people with disabilities to live at home, in line with Article 19 of the UNCRPD.
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I ask the Minister if he is aware of the critical shortage of personal assistant hours for people with disabilities across the State, and the reason a person whose details have been supplied has been put in a position where they receive no PA support two days a week and only half-day support for two other days. I ask for his views on whether his Department is adequately supporting disabled people who require personal assistants.
The HSE, either directly or indirectly through a range of voluntary and private service providers, provides a range of assisted living services including PA and home support services. Some 80% of specialised disability provision is delivered through non-statutory sector service providers. PA services provide one-to-one support to people with physical disabilities in their homes and communities by trained, professional personal assistants. The PA service facilitates a person’s independence, improves their quality of life, and supports them to participate in their local community. In 2024, 80,000 additional hours have been funded, bringing delivery to approximately 1.77 million PA hours supporting more than 2,600 adults across the country.
Currently, each CHO has a process to manage applications and referrals for PA services. The needs of the individual, compliance with prioritisation criteria and the level of resources available determine allocation. As with every service, there is not a limitless resource available for the provision of home support services, and while the resources available are substantial, they are finite. While many individuals are adequately provided for by their current level of support, 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 the Department in December, commits to the delivery of 110,000 additional home support hours between 2024 and 2026 to address shortfalls in services and support people with disabilities to live at home, in line with Article 19 of the UNCRPD. The action plan also commits to 800,000 additional personal assistance hours in the same period. A policy review of PA services in light of the UNCRPD, with a working group involving key stakeholders and disabled persons' organisations, to develop formal policy and service description is under way.
I thank the Minister of State.
I asked this question because of a constituent, who was mentioned in the question, and because 40% of those surveyed by the ESRI in 2022 felt their lives had been significantly impacted by insufficient PA hours. The Irish Wheelchair Association estimates that more than 60% of individuals currently receiving personal assistance services or home support require significantly more hours than they are receiving, and that is only an estimate because no comprehensive data on the issue currently exists. The constituent of mine named in my question is wheelchair bound but his independence is curtailed not by his physical ability but, instead, by the fact personal assistants in Clare are so overstretched, and hours so underassigned, that he is reliant on the gaps in his care being provided by his parents, both of whom are in their 70s. This issue is not restricted to my constituent. There is not adequate support for this young man.
With regard to the individual case the Deputy mentioned, officials in the Department have contacted the HSE and a response will issue to her in due course. It is being dealt with, therefore.
There is no doubt we do not have enough PA hours or personal assistants to provide them. Nevertheless, as part of the transfer of function, this was one of the issues on which we were able to shine a spotlight. PA hours had been muddied in with home support and we had to untangle that. PA and home support are two completely different things, but some CHOs were using PA hours as home support. The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, and I have managed to unravel this in the past 12 months and we are continuing to unravel it, and as we do so, people should feel they are getting more support.
I do appreciate the work the Minister of State has been doing and I have recognised that a light has been shone on this issue, especially in respect of PA hours and in separating, as she pointed out, the issue of home support. In regard to my constituent, the Minister of State has indicated the Department will be in contact, which is positive news to hear, and I really appreciate the work being done in the background to ensure this young man is being supported. It is great because social anxiety is an issue as well for some people and I know that in this case, pointing to the day centre and to maybe taking up additional hours there was not going to work, so I appreciate any support in addition to what he was receiving. I again point to the need to reform PA hours and to enshrine that right for all people with disabilities.
Absolutely. On the reform of PA hours, even though we are spending so much on PAs, at in excess of €60 million on PA support, we do not have it underpinned with a proper framework, so work is ongoing in that regard and we are engaging with stakeholders on the review while, at the same time, ensuring we do not stop the delivery of hours or the roll-out. We are also looking to see what other countries are doing when it comes to PA support, because it can give people back their independence and the life they may have had before they had an accident, or where they were in education or in employment, rebuild their confidence and get them back into the community. It is about working with employers or education and ensuring proper accommodation that meets their needs to integrate them completely.
I thank the Minister of State. The Deputy who submitted Question No. 49 is not present.