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Dáil Debates & Questions
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June 03 2010 Dáil Debates Parliamentary Questions
DÁIL DEBATES Kieran O’Donnell (FG): I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this matter, specifically the reduction of €1.08 million in the budget of the Brothers of Charity in Bawnmore in Limerick. This 4% cut has resulted in the decision by the Brothers of Charity at the Bawnmore centre to close in ten days’ time the only respite facility it has for intellectually disabled adults in Limerick city. The closure will affect 63 families, many of whom are elderly or widowed carers of sons or daughters. They have reached crisis point as they face the loss of the only respite care facility available for loved ones. The closure, which has been caused by a shortage of funding to the Brothers of Charity in Limerick, is unacceptable and an absolute disgrace. I anticipated that the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney, or the Minister of State with responsibility for disability, Deputy Moloney, would come to the House to address this issue. The Brothers of Charity in Bawnmore do fantastic work but face a shortage of funding. A cut of €1.08 million or 4% in a budget is severe. It has forced the Brothers of Charity to reorganise services in Bawnmore with the result that one respite house will be closed affecting 63 individuals and their families, another three residential units in the city have been closed and a further residential unit in Bawnmore must be reorganised. They have also had to curtail canteen facilities for more than 200 people who use them daily. If the Minister of State provides a general response, it will be unacceptable. Deputies are being forced to submit general questions on the Adjournment when the Government is well aware that we seek responses on specific issues. I want to know whether funding of the order of €150,000 to €200,000 will be restored to ensure respite services are not discontinued on 14 June. Will the Minister of State also confirm that the funding of €1.08 million will be restored? The Government attacks the most vulnerable, a category which includes the disabled. The parents and siblings of disabled people are so tired from caring for their disabled sons and daughters and brothers and sisters that they do not have the energy to respond to Government cuts such as these. Service providers such as the Brothers of Charity in Bawnmore are doing fantastic work but are being curtailed by a lack of funding. The moratorium on recruitment is not being applied in a consistent manner, specifically in respect of the Brothers of Charity in Limerick. I ask the Minister of State to confirm that funding will be restored to enable the respite facility in Limerick used by 63 families and their loved ones to remain open. While the sum involved, €150,000, falls far short of a Taoiseach’s salary, it impacts on 63 families. I also want the Minister of State to state the €1.08 million in funding cuts will be restored. Society is judged on how it deals with the most vulnerable, including the disabled. I do not want a general response but specific assurances that this matter will be addressed. Deputy Seán Haughey: I am not sure I will be able to help the Deputy because the Minister for Health and Children has asked me to respond to the following motion which was raised on the Adjournment: “To call on the Minister for Health and Children to make a statement on the need to provide and maintain respite care services for families in need of respite.” I have not been asked to respond on any issue related to Limerick. Deputy Kieran O’Donnell: On a point of order, I raised the matter in that form because it was the only way I was allowed to do so. Previously, when this matter was raised in respect of the Bawnmore centre, respite was not an issue. As my case and that of my colleague, Deputy Feighan, show, Deputies are being forced to raise general statements when the Government is well aware that we are seeking specific answers. Ministers come before the Chamber and give us answers consisting of general waffle, which is not good enough. Deputy Seán Haughey: That is not my problem. I have been asked to respond to a—— Deputy Kieran O’Donnell: With due respect to the Minister of State, the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Mary Harney, or the Minister of State, Deputy John Moloney, should be present. Deputy Seán Haughey: It is not my responsibility to select Adjournment matters or decide what matters may or may not be raised. I can only respond on behalf of a Minister to the Adjournment matter which has been selected. Deputy Kieran O’Donnell: If that is the case, why is the Minister of State here? Acting Chairman (Deputy Darragh O’Brien): The matter raised is clear. It is printed on the document before us and is general rather than specific in nature. Deputy Kieran O’Donnell: As is well known, the matter was specific when I submitted it. Deputy Seán Haughey: That is not well known to me. Acting Chairman (Deputy Darragh O’Brien): We will allow the Minister of State to respond. He can note the specific issue raised by the Deputy and respond later. Deputy Seán Haughey: The overarching policy of the Government is to support older people to live in dignity and independence in their own homes and communities for as long as possible. Where this is not possible, the Health Service Executive supports access to quality long-term residential care where this is appropriate. In line with this overall approach, a priority ofGovernment in recent years has been to develop a range of community based supports such as home help, home care packages and day-respite care. Between 2006 and 2010, additional investment of more than €200 million was provided to the HSE to develop community-based services for older people. Without these initiatives, many older people would spend longer than necessary in acute hospitals, or would be admitted to residential care earlier than might be required. The HSE service plan 2010, approved by the Minister for Health and Children last March, commits the executive to providing agreed levels of service nationally for these key community support areas. The plan includes respite care, often available through day care or home care packages, and is delivered either directly by the HSE, or in partnership with the voluntary or private sectors. Broadly speaking, the level of community supports for older people in 2010 is in line with 2009 provision. There is an increase this year in the number of home care packages available due to an additional €10 million given in the last budget for this purpose. The key activity targets contained in this year’s HSE service plan are almost 12 million home help hours to approximately 54,500 people, increased home care package provision from 8,700 recipients at any one time in 2009 to 9,600 in 2010 and a total of 21,300 day care places, which is estimated to cater for up to 80,000 people. While this target is slightly down from a comparable figure of 21,600 places last year, the respite element of day care would be generally compensated for in the overall 2010 home care service picture. Any changes to these commitments, as part of the agreed HSE service plan, would need to be notified to the Department. Other important initiatives are also being undertaken at a strategic level to improve community-based services for older people. Arising from an evaluation of home care packages, published by the Department last December, the HSE established a taskforce to progress, this year, various improvements in home care provision. The Department accepts the need for a more standardised approach to home care generally, whether by public or private provision. This year the HSE intends to finalise and circulate standardised access and operational guidelines for delivery of home care packages, adopt and disseminate a voluntary code of quality guidelines for home care support services for older people and develop and publish a procurement framework for home care services. The various guidelines now being prepared are intended to allow the HSE implement a more standardised approach nationally to the provision of home care services, including respite care, in the context of interlinking with the wider range of services. The HSE has operational responsibility for the delivery of health and social services. The Deputy will appreciate that all developments in the area of home care need to be addressed in light of the current economic and budgetary pressures. The executive has been asked to make a rigorous examination of how existing funding might be reconfigured or reallocated to ensure maximum service provision is achieved. This requires a stringent ongoing review of the application of the resources available. It is, consequently, a matter for the executive to manage the services I have outlined, including respite care, at national, regional or local level, bearing in mind all relevant factors such as overall resources, local circumstances or evolving service priorities. I have taken note of what the Deputy said about Limerick city and will convey his views to the Minister for Health and Children. PARLIAMENTARY QUESTIONS Deputy Trevor Sargent (GP): asked the asked the Minister for Health and Children when adults and children will be afforded the right to an assessment under the Disability Act 2005; if funding will be attached to such assessments; Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children (Deputy John Moloney): Part 2 of the Disability Act 2005 was commenced on 1 June 2007 in respect of children aged under 5; this includes an independent assessment of health and education needs. In October 2008 the Government decided, in the light of financial circumstances, to defer further implementation of the Act and the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs (EPSEN) Act 2004. No alternative timescales for full implementation of Part 2 of the Act have been developed to date. Deputy Kieran O’Donnell (FG): asked the Minister for Health and Children if she will reverse the decision to withdraw funding of €1.08 million for a service (details supplied) in County Limerick; her views on the resultant closure of respite services to 63 persons and the curtailment of services to a further 45 residents; Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children (Deputy John Moloney): I wish to advise the Deputy that the issues raised by him relate to the provision of services which is a matter for the Health Service Executive. Due to the ongoing industrial action, it is not possible for the Executive to supply the information requested. However, I understand the HSE informed my Department that it plans to maintain access to appropriate treatments and services for clients during 2010 despite the current resource pressures. The HSE is aware of the challenges which the reduction in allocations will present to organisations in ensuring they meet the needs of service users and in planning for emergencies that arise throughout the year. It also recognises that maintaining service levels within available resources will require significant levels of co-operation, change, flexibility and creativity. All disability service providers in the Limerick area have been requested to advise and discuss, with HSE management, challenges they are experiencing, prior to cuts/changes to service provision being implemented. There are also plans to develop a local forum of all service providers (both physical and sensory and intellectual disability), with a focus on the needs of service users now and in the future. Deputy Trevor Sargent (GP): asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs when a review of the Disability Act 2005 is due to take place; Minister of State at the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs (DeputyMary Alexandra White): Section 6 of the Disability Act 2005 requires a review of the operation of the Act to be carried out not later than five years after its commencement. The review is underway at present. Deputy Trevor Sargent (GP): asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs when Ireland will ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled People; Minister of State at the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs (DeputyMary Alexandra White): It is the Government’s intention to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as quickly as possible, taking into account the need to ensure that all necessary legislative and administrative requirements under the Convention are being met. Work on what is involved by way of implementation of the various provisions in the Convention, which are extensive, continues in the relevant Departments. Deputy Trevor Sargent (GP): asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills the supports that are currently in place for graduates with disabilities Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Mary Coughlan): Under the Government’s mainstreaming policy a range of schemes and grants are provided by FÁS to assist people with disabilities, including graduates, to promote their employment prospects in the open labour market. In this regard the recently launched FÁS Work Placement Programme is open to all unemployed people, including graduates with disabilities. The programme provides the opportunity to obtain 6 months work experience while on placement with a company. While on the work placement participants retain their social welfare status and entitlements. FÁS provides funding for two programmes that have been developed by the Association for Higher Education Access and Delivery and are aimed at graduates with a disability. The Association is an independent non-profit organisation that has worked over the last 20 years to promote full access and participation for graduates. The first programme, the Willing Able Mentoring Programme, aims to bring graduates and employers together and promote accessibility to the labour market for graduates with a disability. This programme is designed as a mentored work placement programme by providing a support system to management, staff and graduates to promote the inclusion of people with a disability in the workplace. The current proposals also include disability related support to employers participating in the FÁS Work Placement Programme. The second programme, Get Ahead: Get Ready for Work Programme 2010, builds life long career skills for graduates with a disability, enabling them to deal with a labour market that demands mobility. It also promotes disability awareness among professionals, informing careers advisers on disability issues to allow them to offer a more inclusive service. Deputy Trevor Sargent asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding the work programme of the FÁS national advisory group on disability; Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Mary Coughlan): Responsibility for FÁS and all of its functions in regard to employment services, community programmes, skills and training programmes have recently been transferred to my Department under the transfer of functions between Government Departments announced by an Taoiseach in March, 2010. Subject to the enactment of legislation, it is intended that responsibility for employment services and community programmes will further transfer from this Department to the Department of Social Protection as soon as possible. Pending the implementation of these changes, the FÁS National Advisory Committee on Disability has agreed to postpone its Summer-time meeting until 12th October, 2010, when it is hoped that the work plan of the committee can be revisited in the light of the new reporting structures that it is intended will have been implemented in the meantime. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan (FG): asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills the number of resource or special needs teachers currently required at primary and or second level schools throughout the country, on a county basis as set out by the various school authorities; the degree to which any outstanding requirements are likely to be met; the extent of additional educational facilities other than those previously announced likely to be provided by her Department over the next three years with particular reference to children affected by autism, Asperger’s, ADD and ADHD; the number of places available at primary and second level schools throughout the country, on a county basis, for children with autism, Asperger’s, ADD, ADHD or similar learning difficulties catered for to the extent set out or required by local school authorities; the degree to which such requirements are likely to be met in the near future; Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Mary Coughlan): The National Council for Special Education through its network of Special Education Needs Organisers (SENOs), co-ordinates special needs education provision at local level. SENOs act as single points of contact for schools and parents of students with special educational needs. Where a need for additional specialist settings is identified, SENOs work with schools to sanction the required special class provision. All schools have the names and contact details of their local SENO. Parents may also contact their local SENO directly to discuss their child’s special educational needs, using the contact details available on www.ncse.ie. Children with special educational needs, including the specific conditions mentioned by the Deputy, have a range of placement options available to them. Many children with special needs, including those mentioned by the Deputy, attend mainstream schools alongside their peers. Depending on the extent of their special educational need, these children may receive support from the school’s Learning Support teacher and/or additional tuition hours provided by a Resource teacher and/or support from a Special Needs Assistant. Resource teaching hours are sanctioned by the SENO in line with the assessed disability of the pupils concerned. Other children with such special educational needs attend a special class attached to a mainstream school while some children attend a special school. These children are supported through lower pupil teacher ratios and, where necessary, special needs assistants. The level and extent of resources provided to support pupils with special educational needs depend on the precise nature of the special educational need of the particular pupil. Supports can include the allocation of additional resource teaching support, special needs assistants, special school transport arrangements and grants for specialist equipment and/or assistive technology. School buildings may be adapted where necessary. There are now about 20,000 adults in our schools working solely with pupils with special needs. This includes over 10,000 Special Needs Assistants (SNAs); 8,600 resource and learning support teachers; over 1,100 special school teachers and hundreds of other teachers in special classes.The enrolment of a child in a school is a matter in the first instance for the parents of the child and the Board of Management of a school. My Department has no role in relation to processing applications for enrolment in schools and therefore the information requested by the Deputy is not available within my Department. Deputy Noel Ahern (FF): asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 231 of 13 May 2010 and previous parliamentary questions relating to a person (details supplied) in need of home tuition, if the offer of five hours per week can be increased; the reason ten or 20 hours were not approved; if assessment and the need of this person have been taken into account; if the approval date can be backdated; and if an analysis of hours granted can be given to detail the number of pupils and the percentage that have five hours, 10 hours and 20 hours per week. Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Mary Coughlan): The Deputy will be aware that the home tuition scheme provides funding to parents to provide education at home for children who, for a number of reasons such as chronic illness, are unable to attend school. The scheme was extended in recent years to facilitate tuition for children awaiting a suitable educational placement and also to provide early educational intervention for preschool children with autism. The maximum allocation for children eligible for tuition where their medical condition impacts their ability to attend school is 10 hours per week and the allocation is based on attendance levels. The application for home tuition for the child in question was made in this context on 17th May 2010 and approval was granted on 24th May 2010. There is no facility to sanction tuition retrospectively. I have arranged for the statistics on the scheme requested by the Deputy to be forwarded to him.
Deputy Bernard J. Durkan (FG): asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills the extent to which the relevant section of her Department provides assistance, direction and advice to the parents of children with behavioural problems or special need who for whatever reason may have lost their place at primary or second level schools; if the relevant section initiates contact with the school authorities or the parents with a view to offering assistance in such situations; the number of such occurrences in the past 12 months; the degree to which a satisfactory or alternative provision was made; the extent to which the education of the children involved was provided for; Minister of State at the Department of Education and Skills (Deputy Seán Haughey): The Education (Welfare) Act, 2000, established the National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) with statutory responsibility to ensure that each child attends a recognised school or otherwise receives a certain minimum education. The remit of the Board was expanded in 2009 to include responsibility for the Visiting Teacher Service for Travellers (VTST), the Home School Community Liaison Service (HSCL) and the School Completion Programme (SCP) as well as the National Educational Welfare Service (EWS) under one common management team. The new integrated approach will provide for better targeting of children who are not benefiting from education and it will ensure that these children are properly supported to maximise their educational potential. It also provides new opportunities for enhanced support for parents and families. The Board’s network of Educational Welfare Officers (EWOs) is the means by which the Board delivers on its statutory remit to ensure that each child attends and benefits from education. EWOs work with approximately 8,000 children each year, who are reported as having serious school attendance or school placement difficulties or who have been expelled from schools. They work closely with the family, the school and other support services to address the particular issues for each child. The needs of children can vary considerably from those who are not attending school to those for whom there is no school place, while in other cases, placement in an alternative education programme like Youthreach may be more appropriate. The general functions of the Board are to ensure that each child attends a recognised school or otherwise receives a certain minimum education. The NEWB has a key role in supporting parents where there are problems with school placement or attendance difficulties of their children in school. In addition the NEWB has, in the past, issued information leaflets to parents and run public awareness campaigns to raise the profile of school attendance. It also operates an Education Helpline to provide information on attendance and related matters. Where difficulties with school placement include issues of special educational need staff of the Board and the National Council for Special Education have developed operational protocols to ensure that these difficulties are resolved. The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible for the provision of a range of educational services at local and national level for students with special educational needs. In particular, its network of Special Education Needs Organisers (SENOs) co-ordinates special needs education provision at local level and arranges for the delivery of special educational services. They act as single points of contact for parents of students with special educational needs. Another specific function of the SENO is to identify appropriate educational placements for children with special educational needs. My Department encourages parents and school authorities to engage locally regarding pupils’ education. All schools have the names and contact details of their local SENO. Parents may also contact their local SENO directly todiscuss their child’s special educational needs, using the contact details available onwww.ncse.ie.Section 29 of the Education Act 1998 provides for an appeal by a parent or guardian to theSecretary General of my Department, or, in the case of a Vocational Educational Committee(VEC) school, to the VEC in the first instance; where a Board of Management of a school, ora person acting on behalf of the Board, permanently excludes a student, or suspends a studentfor a period greater than 20 days.In relation to appeals lodged with the Secretary General of my Department, only where anappeal under Section 29 is upheld can the Secretary General of my Department direct a schoolto re-instate a pupil. In 2009, 72 Section 29 Appeals, lodged with the Secretary General werecompleted, broken down between primary and post primary schools as follows:
The NEWB’s ‘Developing a Code of Behaviour: Guidelines for Schools’ has been issued to all schools and are part of the Board’s overall strategy to support school attendance and participation. They have been issued in compliance with section 23 of the Education (Welfare) Act, 2000, which legally obliges each school to have a Code that is available to students and parents. The school Code of Behaviour is the set of programmes, practices and procedures that together form the school’s plan for helping students in the school to behave well and learn well. The Code of Behaviour helps the school community to promote the policies, procedures and practices that encourage good behaviour and prevent unacceptable behaviour. The NEWB Guidelines recognise the importance of the leadership of Boards of Management and Principals and they place a welcome emphasis on the value of engaging everyone in the school community, including teachers, parents and pupils in the task of shaping the school environment and making it a positive place for teaching and learning. The Deputy will be aware that my Department operates a Home Tuition Scheme which allocates funding to parents to provide tuition at home for children who, for a number of reasons such as chronic illness, are unable to attend school. The scheme funds tuition for children awaiting a suitable educational placement where a school-based placement is not available. Information on the scheme including criteria for eligibility for tuition is detailed annually by circular to schools and parents. The home tuition scheme facilitates ongoing minimum education until a suitable long term solution is put in place by the Board.
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Inclusion
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