asked the Minister for Health if he will make a statement on the closure of the HOPE hostel and the alternative arrangements which have been made.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Closure of HOPE Hostel.
4.
I regret that, in spite of an offer to increase the annual revenue grant from £43,000 to £60,000 for this year from the Eastern Health Board, the council of the HOPE hostel found it necessary to close their services on 4 April. I understand from the Eastern Health Board that they are in the process of making arrangements to ensure that appropriate services are available to replace the service provided at the HOPE hostel. I have requested my officials to keep in touch with the health board to ensure that alternative arrangements are put in place as soon as possible.
Does the Minister know what alternative arrangements will be made and when they will come into effect?
The Eastern Health Board are now discussing the matter and they had preliminary meetings with another agency on 10 April who are interested in providing a service for homeless young people. The Department have arranged a meeting with the health board on 18 April to discuss the matter.
Could the Minister say what alternative arrangements are available to these hopeless people at present as the HOPE hostel closed on 4 April?
Pending the setting up of suitable alternative accommodation, the Eastern Health Board have taken care of the children directly concerned on an interim basis. My Department and the Eastern Health Board were aware of the deterioration in the financial situation of HOPE in recent years and we had anticipated what needed to be done when the need arose. I do not accept that the Department or the Eastern Health Board were in any way negligent in providing very substantial resources to this organisation which, unfortunately, seem to be quite incapable of managing their financial affairs, so much so that they accumulated a debt of £90,000, £50,000 of which was due to the Revenue Commissioners in respect of PRSI.
Can the Minister give an assurance that no children who were formerly being cared for by the HOPE organisation are on the streets and that they are all being catered for on an interim basis?
The hostel had a maximum capacity of 12 places and, from the information available, the average occupancy was between four and six persons nightly. The staff structure consisted of a director, a hostel leader, four house parents and an administrator, a ratio of one child care worker to four children. The financial problems of the organisation, which was marked by a prolonged period of very loose management and a serious deterioration in basic book-keeping, resulted in a debt of £90,000. Despite the fact that we provided £68,000 last year, including a once off payment of £25,000, the organisation seemed to be incapable of providing even a small service. Over the same period the organisation also received grants totalling nearly £30,000 from the Dublin Youth Services Council and the Department of Social Welfare.
Any suggestion that we have been in any way reluctant to provide resources is totally without foundation. The organisation informed the Department and the Eastern Health Board that they would not provide services this year unless approximately £110,000 was provided. They subsequently reduced this figure to a sum of about £75,000 and the Department and the Eastern Health Board said that they were prepared to provide a sum of £65,000. Indeed, additional moneys might have been forthcoming but it appeared that the council of the organisation had taken a decision to close the service. I am convinced that with that sum of money available we can provide a service for six to eight children on an emergency nightly basis and that we can get other agencies to provide — with no disrespect to those involved — an equal and perhaps more effective service. I regret that the council decided, for reasons best known to themselves, possibly because they had accumulated such a large deficit, to close down the service.
I am not primarily concerned with the fate of HOPE but with that of the young people who are homeless. Can the Minister give an assurance that all the children cared for by HOPE are now being catered for by the health board pending new arrangements? Could I also ask if the Minister's Department have issued any guidelines to health boards in general in regard to monitoring the operation of various voluntary organisations which provide essential services such as those for the homeless, to ensure that if they get into trouble replacement services will be available before a crisis arises?
In recent years funding of organisations by the health board was substantial. In 1982 it was £32,000, in 1983 it was £40,000, in 1984 it was £43,000 and in 1985 it was £68,000 plus a sum of £30,000 from the Dublin Youth Services Council. There was no stinting on the part of the Department of Health or the Eastern Health Board because, basically, section 65 grants are provided through the Eastern Health Board. I regret very much the incessant public relations statements that we were cutting back on the money available to the organisation. We most certainly were not. Had I been convinced that the organisation were going to stay open, I might have been able to find additional resources but a decision had been taken several weeks ago to close. Of course, the organisation left £50,000 owing to the Revenue Commissioners which should never have happened in the administration of any voluntary organisation. I am quite certain that, through the health board, we will reach agreement with the other voluntary child care agency that has expressed an interest in running the service for homeless young people. Hopefully, the matter will be resolved.
We will have to move on to the next question. After 30 minutes we have dealt with only four questions.
I am anxious to know if the children which HOPE were caring for are being cared for now by the health board.
They are. The Eastern Health Board have their own professional child care social workers and a statutory responsibility to look after such children. They have indicated to the Department of Health that they are looking after them and have every intention of doing so pending the provision of an alternative service.