Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I am glad the Minister of State is in the Chamber. I know from having been contacted by representatives from WALK that there have quite a few frantic telephone calls since I tabled this Topical Issue matter and since the board of WALK took the decision to close its residential service. That is what it was moving towards.

WALK is an organisation in Walkinstown that is aimed at empowering people with disabilities, many of whom have quite complex needs. Its aim is to try to ensure that people live a self-determined life where they can go to work and enjoy themselves and, in some cases, access community living.

A number of residential spaces are available through WALK, which provides that service. In fact, it provides it for people with quite complex needs, which would cost the State a fortune if it was paying the private sector rather than a charity, as it is in this case. I will come back to that, however.

WALK, like every single organisation and person in Ireland, has suffered a cost-of-living increase in its costs that has not been addressed. The funding it is getting is not sufficient to ensure that it can survive or continue the work it has been doing quite successfully. Representatives from WALK told me that, in the main, the average that charities that provide this work get in terms of a resident is approximately €140,000 whereas in the private sector, it is between €300,000 and €360,000. There is, therefore, a big gap. Yet, here is an organisation that has seven empty spaces as we stand, and an additional seven that it can take on to save the State money. It also had a previous home that could take another seven but the HSE has not been engaging properly. That is one of the key issues.

We have an organisation that is addressing the needs of our society, not with huge costs but on the cheap in some ways, and it has gotten into difficulty. Mr. John Bourke of the WALK board said that enough is enough. He said they have a huge debt that they cannot sustain and they have done their due diligence and something has to give. The HSE must, therefore, come up with a programme to address this, and not the programme that was being discussed with WALK, which was to do with lowering the skills set of those working in the residential service. It should be increasing it. Payroll cost is going to be minuscule the terms of the costs here. WALK said there is an €800,000 deficit. That needs to be addressed and that can be addressed by increasing the rate at which the HSE pays for those who are in the residential facilities it has. That means they have that comfort. The officials can go to a bank and say that this money will be reduced. Otherwise, the organisation will be called into question, like many other charities that provide services. That needs to happen quickly. The stuff around payroll, rostering and all of that can come at a later stage if needs be. There needs to be a commitment to ensure that those families or, in fact, individuals who depend on WALK to provide the service are protected. There would be nothing worse than if there was a break in continuity for those who have those complex needs and if, all of a sudden, the service was gone and they were back living at home again or wherever they came from in the first instance. I appeal to the Minister of State to make sure that this is addressed as quickly as possible.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy very much for the opportunity to address this issue on the floor of the Dáil. From what I can gather from correspondence I received from him when responding to the Topical Issue and from Senators Ardagh and Seery Kearney, there is a state of flux at this moment in the Deputy's area.

Residential services are currently provided by way of more than 3,800 placements to people with disabilities nationally. These services are provided by the HSE itself. WALK is a section 39 organisation that provides day service to 230 adults, which I visited during Covid times. I have seen their cafe and garden. I met with services users who spoke of their enjoyment of attending their day services.

WALK currently provides for 27 people with disabilities or mental health issues. I really appreciate the Deputy's openness in telling me what is available in terms of the other 14 residential spaces. That was not made available to me in all of my briefing documents. To think that in the heart of Dublin we are struggling to find places and we find out there are 14 spaces available, I thank the Deputy for that.

We all know first-hand the good work that is being delivered through the Oireachtas Work Learn, OWL, training programme for young adults with intellectual disabilities, which is also supported by WALK. In 2023, WALK was in receipt of just over €8 million in funding from the HSE. I am informed by the HSE that an amount of funding was withheld from WALK in 2023. I have no doubt that is putting it under substantial financial pressure in early 2024 due to service users being transferred to nursing home placements or in acute hospital due to a decline in health.

I am advised that the HSE has not stated that it would not fund residential placements. However, I understand that the funding is one of a number of issues that is under active consideration by the HSE with the organisation. The year 2023 had seen work done by the HSE with WALK. Early in the year, the HSE commissioned a service user review of the organisation services with a focus on funding and its utilisation. The draft report had been shared with the organisation's CEO. I am reassured by the fact that there is ongoing engagement between the HSE and WALK. Most recent meetings took place between WALK's CEO, the HSE head of disability services and their management teams only in the past week or ten days. The management teams have agreed to work together to progress a programme of work under the following headings: funding; residential placements; the governance and staffing structures; risk assessments; and clinical input. The HSE and WALK will consider these areas to agree a service improvement plan to work together to address the matter.

Aside from all I have said in reply to the Deputy, WALK is an invaluable provider to services users who have disability needs or mental health needs in a highly densely populated area. The work it does is well recognised and appreciated. The programme work it is currently undertaking is not to put any pressure under WALK whatsoever. I would certainly like the Deputy's constituents to know there is no fear of WALK closing or anything like that. The HSE must and will work with WALK to ensure there is a sustainable, viable solution for WALK. The piece we need to focus on is the sustainability and growth of the service. We know about the level of unmet need right across the country. However, when we have capacity in the service, it is incumbent on the HSE to work with WALK to ensure that capacity can be leaned upon and, at the same time, on a parallel process to address all the operations. I totally agree with the Deputy's sentiment and proposal.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Go raibh maith agat. I think WALK will be happy with the contribution and the commitments that have been given. There is an urgency about this.

One of the facilities, which has seven beds, is not available at the moment because WALK could not wait. It has seven places available and the other seven places may come back in the near future. As I said, WALK could not wait on the HSE to take that up.

The cost of living needs to be addressed by a higher allocation per resident than is currently the case. The allocation needs to meet the costs of section 38 and 39 organisations. We know of other areas as well. The State must consider this matter, especially given that the private sector can get more. If we pay the same rate across the board, many of these organisations will be able to do much more and Mr. Bourke, others on the board and the staff will not have to deal with this issue, which distracts them from their work. It is an important issue and needs to be put right, given that we have seen what happens when the funding is not right. If an organisation has worries about a deficit hanging over it, it gets distracted.

We must ensure that we plan for the future as regards the unmet needs the Minister of State mentioned. Where organisations are looking to help the State, families and individuals, we need to harness that. A great deal of work has been done, but this is an instance where there either seems to have been a miscommunication or a stay is being applied. People are worried that this shortfall will affect the rest of the services they are providing. This is not their only service, as they have many more.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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Today in Athlone, 70 people, including all heads of disability organisations and community health organisations and the entire Department, are meeting to discuss the disability capacity action plan for the next number of years. One of the main priorities of that meeting is ensuring the sustainability of services and letting people understand that we in the Department, including the Minister, acknowledge that there is a sustainability issue. We are dealing with services that have been underfunded, not just in recent years, but for countless decades. I keep saying this. We need to ensure that these services are shored up and supported in a parallel process while we address needs, including unmet ones, and bring governance, structures and so on up to a standard that allows for proper service level agreements within the new Department. We are prioritising this.

I acknowledge the work being done by WALK for the 250 day service users and the variety of day service user opportunities that it provides. Some of its members are working in the Oireachtas while others are participating in a work programme abroad with Pfizer. WALK is also very involved in its community garden.

To the families that have loved ones attending WALK’s services, be those day services or residential services, I assure them that WALK and all other services will get the support they need in a parallel process while ensuring sustainability and allowing capacity for growth.