Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Boyhan for raising this important matter for discussion in the Chamber today. As he quite rightly said, St. John of God Community Services provides services for 8,000 of our most vulnerable citizens across their entire life spectrum. It has 3,000 staff working for it. There is a collaborative approach, with the person at the centre, between the staff, the parents and the volunteers. A lot of parents whose young person has gone through service also give back their time.

The HSE has worked intensively with the organisation throughout the sustainability impact assessment process to address financial and operational sustainability challenges. The Government's clear preference is for St. John of God Community Services to continue to provide these services if this is possible. Most recently the HSE, with the backing of the Department, reaffirmed a strong commitment to support its service provision. As recently as last Thursday, the HSE's chief executive officer, Bernard Gloster, set out an extensive package on offer to St. John of God Community Services in addition to the €200 million. Notably, the HSE's financial projections indicate the service provider will achieve a break-even position in 2024 as it has done since 2019. Since 2019 we have worked with St. John of God Community Services and provided additional funding to ensure the continuation of the exceptional service it delivers to meet the needs of the most vulnerable and, at the same time, balance this with ensuring the service breaks even.

The HSE and the relevant Department was, therefore, surprised and disappointed last week when the board of St. John of God Community Services indicated its decision to commence a transfer of services to the HSE. This prompted further high-level engagement over the weekend. I am conscious of my language here this morning. I need to keep it very measured because intensive negotiations are taking place. As I stand before Members, the board of St. John of God Community Services is meeting. The Department is meeting the people from the HSE involved in the SLA. I felt it was incumbent on me to respond to the Senator this morning, which is why I am here. A lot of intensive and sensitive negotiations are going on.

The CEO of the HSE met directly with representatives of the board of St. John of God Community Services at 3 p.m. on Sunday. He followed this with an extensive letter yesterday morning. Engagement between the parties is ongoing and it is important that we provide every opportunity for an outcome that would avoid the transfer of services. All parties acknowledge this would be in the best interests of service users, their families, service staff and public confidence.

Significant work on the sustainability impact assessment process has provided a pathway to sustainable high-quality services that meet service users' needs and address corporate governance considerations. It is important to me, in the same context as Senator Boylan mentioned the disability capacity action plan, to acknowledge that St. John of God Community Services is not the only service provider that finds itself in this situation. This is why it is important that we find a sustainable pathway out of crisis and deficit.

The HSE, backed by the Department, remains committed to following through on the outcome of the process and has communicated to St. John of God Community Services that additional funding is available to enhance the services and support related reforms. As the Minister of State with responsibility for disability, a key ongoing objective of mine is to ensure appropriate funding is available to deliver quality services for people with disabilities. We committed to finding innovative solutions to these systemic challenges by continuing to work with HSE, service providers, staff and service users. The organisation has received close to €1 billion in funding since 2019. I will continue to work closely with the HSE to ensure appropriate funding is available to service providers. I assure the staff, service users and families that the HSE, backed by the relevant Department, is committed to funding St. John of God Community Services. Senator Boyhan asked me when will I look people in the eye. I sent an email last Friday.