Vol. 1050 No. 5
82. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will provide further details on the €18 million capital funding announced recently with the precondition that providers agree to a predefined fee cap; what supports will be available for services to encourage them to apply, given the high number of services that applied and were not successful in 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9497/24]
This question relates to the recently announced capital funding of €18 million. I know it has a precondition that providers agree to a predefined fee cap. Can we get some more information on that and how it will pan out? Given the high number of services that applied last year and were not successful, can we get some more information and clarity?
Last week, I was pleased to announce an €18 million capital grant scheme for the early learning and childcare sector. The building blocks capacity expansion grant scheme is part of the wider building blocks capital programme for this sector under the national development plan. The scheme will provide capital grants for early learning and childcare services to expand their existing capacity by means of internal renovations and reconfigurations. The primary focus of the scheme is to increase capacity in the between one and three year old, pre-ECCE, age range for full day or part-time care. A key feature of the scheme is the application of a maximum fee threshold for early learning and childcare services that wish to apply for funding. The reason behind this is to ensure that when State capital investment is provided it does not result in the delivery of childcare places that are unaffordable to parents. My Department has set a weekly maximum fee for full day and part-time services. If the service currently charges above these rates it is ineligible for capital funding. Applicants are required to confirm that the fees they charge for places on 3 April 2024 do not exceed the maximum fee threshold for the relevant care type. The maximum fee threshold for full-time care has been set at €295 per week, while the maximum fee threshold for part-time care has been set at €190 per week. Training has been made available for providers to assist them in understanding the scheme. Pobal's early years provider centre is available to respond to queries about the application process and the city and county childcare committees have been trained in the scheme and can provide additional support and advice to any provider considering applying. The closing date for applications for the new capital funds is 3 April. I have no doubt but that all Deputies have services in their areas that will be interested in this new funding.
There was a lot of information in that. I welcome that it specifically relates to expanding baby room capacity for those between six months and three years. That continues to be a major issue in trying to access spaces. Has any analysis been done of what the €18 million might translate into in terms of places? That might not have been done. I understand the rationale behind the fee caps. Is that the same as core funding? If a service in core funding decides to expand and add a baby room or additional baby room, is it already in a fee cap with core funding? Is it the same type of system, and can we get some information on that?
It is slightly separate to core funding. When you apply you have to state if your weekly fee for full time or part time are above the figures I cited. If they are, you are ineligible to apply. We estimate that approximately 3% of services have weekly fees above those numbers. It is a small number. It is a balance. We want to increase capacity. However, if we are increasing capacity in services to rates we generally believe are unaffordable that is probably not the best investment of State money. The capital programme is available to both community and private services. Community services can apply for the full cost up to €100,000. For private services it is matched funding. They can apply for up to €50,000 and seek the extra €50,000 as matched funding. It is again important to provide additional supports to those community services, which are often in areas of higher disadvantage. At the same time, we recognise that significant investment can be a struggle for private services too, and we look to go 50:50 with them to provide that.
I will make two more points. I recently got a reply to a parliamentary question on what funding was available for construction of new purpose-built early learning and childcare facilities. It stated there was no funding. Maybe this is not considered new funding because it is for existing services. Will the Minister clarify that? There are general works like, for example, retrofitting, which we are encouraging all places to do, or upgrades and other basic things. These are obviously separate to the building blocks funding people can apply for on upgrade works. Is that correct? I want to get clarity on those two points.
The building blocks programme was in three parts. Last year, in the first part, the grants available were for those upgrades. We had €9 million available for those upgrades. This year, our focus is on the expansion of existing services, so the grants available this year are to expand existing services. We have €18 million for that. In 2025, the grants available will be for new services. I do not have the final line of sight on that, but I think that will be in excess of €20 million. We are looking at it in steps. The first step was upgrade, the second step was expansion and the third step is funding for brand new services. That is the biggest piece in supporting new services, in particular community services. We are doing a bit of work in identifying areas of greatest need because there will be criteria for new services in looking to support areas where there is significant pressure on existing services.
83. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if the capital plan for the respite centre in Cavan, which will cater for children, has been launched; the timeframe for the delivery of this service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9734/24]
Has the capital plan for the respite centre in Cavan, which will cater for children, been launched and what is the timeframe for delivery of this service?
A capital funding proposal has been submitted to the national HSE office for a bespoke stand-alone respite service facility in Cavan-Monaghan for children up to the age of 18 with an intellectual disability and high-support medical and complex needs. It is important to say the capital plan has not been published yet but the application has been submitted. At the moment I cannot confirm it in the Chamber, but it is a priority. I have met families and public representatives. There is a dire need for respite for children in Cavan-Monaghan and I have said it numerous times. I do not find sharing a respite centre with adults every second week acceptable. We need full-time respite for both adults and children.
The Government and the HSE have had regular conversations and are very much aware of the importance of respite service provision for families of both children and adults with disabilities and it is important we build on that. Respite for people with disabilities and their families is a key priority area for the HSE and there has been significant investment in services in the past number of years. In 2021 we added nine new houses, which brought 10,000 additional hours. In 2022, we added three, which were for complex speciality needs, and added 4,000 extra bed nights. In 2023, we added another five respite houses, which added 7,300. The capital plan is being finalised at the moment. I know Edel Quinn has done Trojan work with the team in Cavan-Monaghan to put together a proposal and design for adjudication by the HSE national office.
As the Minister of State has said, there is currently one respite house between two counties catering for adults and children on alternative weeks only. That is entirely insufficient and has been for years.
The respite people are getting is in most cases insufficient. There are many on waiting lists who are not getting any. I have even spoken to people who have not applied at all even though they need it or know they will need it in the future but they feel it is pointless because they hear of others who have been waiting so long. Then there are some who are unsure how to even apply. That just points to a deficit of information being provided to people around disability services in general and what supports are available.
The Annalee respite centre has five rooms. I spoke to some of the staff there who said that, for example, many of the cases they are seeing coming in are autistic people, both children and adults, and there is no sensory room. There is a big need for something like that. There is perhaps a big need for an upgrade and extension in that house but there is definitely a need for a separate house completely. To clarify, is the Minister of State still talking about one house between the two counties? Is it one house to cater for children between Cavan and Monaghan? Would she ever see a time when there would be a house for children in each county?
Absolutely. Of course, we want to be that ambitious to ensure that every county would, at a very minimum, have a respite house for children, that is, a house in both Cavan and Monaghan. At this moment, however, the proposal that has been submitted by Edel Quinn is for a respite house for both countries that is operational full-time.
That will add capacity. My understanding is that it is a five-bed house with separate doors. That separate door would ensure that a person with sensory needs can be supported to meet his or her needs and at the same time, the mild and moderate cases will have their own separate front door. Therefore, the building is functioning full-time at all times and everybody is catered for, so we never end up in a situation where the house has a multiplier effect of not functioning for everybody. The 1,800 overnight bed capacity would be on the seven over seven basis, which is exactly what is required and will add substantial accommodation. That would mean people who are not applying or who are in need but do not know how to access it at this point will have their needs met.
We also need to avoid the situation that happens on occasion when an emergency case is going into the respite house and nobody else is actually allowed to use it, so they cancel at the last minute. I am also aware of certain cases, such as, for example, one woman who knows she has an operation coming up in March and who needs respite care for her son. However, because it is the children's week and he is an adult, she is being told there is no possibility. There are situations for which we need to find solutions now. I have written to Edel Quinn on this and have not heard back from her. It is something that needs to be resolved very quickly. Obviously, if there were two houses, it could be resolved very quickly indeed.
I will also point out that the need for respite has increased due to the lack of functionally of the children's disability network team, CDNTs. They are not functioning at all well. In County Cavan, for example, we are working at something like a 60% vacancy rate, so it is actually not working. It is not operating, and children are not getting services. I have contacted the teams. They say they are going to be in touch with families. They do not get in touch, or if they do, it is not to offer supports or services. Many families are getting to a crisis point now where they cannot cope and some have more than one child affected as well.
It is important to say that in budget 2024, the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, and I secured for the first time ever the largest budget for respite, which was €15 million. In a full year, that is €25 million for respite alone. Therefore, we have a very ambitious plan in 2024.
The alternative respite services, such as Little Wonders and Kilbixy Paddocks, provide alternatives on Saturdays and after-school services. We need to add capacity and support those providers. In fact, we need to be ambitious and encourage more providers to come into that space in the after-schools or Saturday clubs piece.
I have no doubt but that Edel Quinn will come back to the Deputy on that issue. She always does her absolute damnedest to support families where she can, particularly with the scheduled care requirement. Finally, the Enable Ireland team is in the Deputy's area. We advertised a recruitment campaign for which 500 people have applied. The interviews are starting now so, hopefully, I will get to meet representatives from Enable Ireland in the next week to see how it is supporting its 20 CDNTs nationally on that drive.
We will move all the way to Question No. 96 in the name of Deputy Brady.
96. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth when he expects to publish the revised White Paper on ending direct provision; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9686/24]
121. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth further to Parliamentary Question No. 1070 of 7 November 2023, the status of the review of the project timelines for the implementation of the White Paper to end direct provision and establish a new international protection support service; if the review has been completed to-date; the timeline for the publication of the review; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9502/24]
141. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to provide an update on the current discussions within his Department with regard to the long-term plans to deal for dealing with those arriving in the country seeking protection; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9551/24]
We need a fair, efficient and enforced immigration system. On the Government's watch, it has failed on all three of those counts and probably no more so than with the failure to tackle the issue of direct provision in a policy that was laid out in 2020. There has been some chatter and commentary about a revision of the ending of direct relation. In November, it was said that a memorandum would be presented to Cabinet. We are now in March. The Minister might outline where things are at in terms of revising the White Paper, particularly the ending of direct provision?
I propose to take Questions Nos. 96, 121 and 141 together.
As of 23 February, the State is providing accommodation to more than 27,400 international protection, IP, arrivals. In tandem with this, approximately 104,000 Ukrainian nationals have been granted temporary protection orders with more than 70% residing in accommodation provided by the State. In short, the State is under extreme pressure to provide accommodation.
In this context, there is very clear recognition across the House that the underlying assumptions on which the original White Paper published in February 2021 were based on do not match the reality any more. That was looking at a system of approximately 3,500 people seeking international protection on an annual basis, and that was based on an average of the previous ten years. Obviously, now, we see a situation where we had 12,000 people seek IP last year and in which 13,000 people sought international protection in the previous year.
My Department is, therefore, reviewing the White Paper. We are bringing forward a revised accommodation approach that tries to be as comprehensive as possible, particularly in recognising the urgent and immediate steps that need to be taken in terms of a situation where more than 1,000 people are unaccommodated right now, and the very real pressure of providing housing and accommodation for people in family units. However, it is also a recognition that we need to move to a longer-term, more stable system.
The system I inherited, which was absolutely focused on private provision, is not fit for purpose. We need to change it and the key element of that change means there has to be a central element of State-provided accommodation. That is what I am working to deliver in terms of the revised White Paper. We also have to recognise that the White Paper was not just about accommodation, albeit we absolutely and rightfully focus on that. However, the White Paper was about two other elements as well. It was about supports and integration. We have taken significant steps on both of those fronts. In terms of integration, for example, my Department announced finances and a local authority integration team in every local authority in the country. These are teams of four that are involved in working and linking both international protection applicants and Ukrainians with State services in that particular area, be they from the local authority or other areas. I believe 11 local authorities have got them fully up and running but all local authorities are funded for these posts. Again, they are funded directly from my Department. I really welcome the fact that the local authorities are becoming more involved in this integration space.
Other very practical supports in terms of integration include allowing international protection applicants to get a driving-----
Is Deputy Farrell all right?
Yes. I made an entrance.
They include granting of driving licences to international protection applicants and allowing them to open bank accounts. They are very simple things but they are also very important. Obviously, reducing the period within which someone can apply for work to six months is a very important step.
In terms of supports, we have done a significant amount of work with the counselling in primary care, CPCs, services. My Department has funded CPCs across the country to be able to engage directly with families and children, particularly in international protection accommodation. We have, of course, the international protection integration fund. That is primarily supporting NGOs and community groups undertaking local work to integrate international protection applicants locally. There have been significant advances on the support elements and integration elements. The accommodation element has to be rewritten in terms of the very changed circumstances we are experiencing. Work is ongoing. Even this week, extensive negotiations were taking place in terms of the revised White Paper. I hope to be able to bring it to Cabinet and publish it very shortly.
I thank the Minister for that. Unfortunately, however, there is no clarity. Assurances were given as far back as November that an updated or revised memo on the White Paper would be produced and given to Cabinet within weeks of that.
We are now in March and the Minister is failing to address the elephant in the room that is the war profiteering by many speculators right across the State. Only this week, we have seen one particular individual and his family in Monaghan making €130 million from the provision of accommodation to the State. The Minister has failed dismally. The Government has failed in the basics that need to be provided to people coming to these shores under a fair, efficient and enforced system. We see the failures. The Minister alluded to the fact that only this week more than 1,000 vulnerable asylum seekers sleeping on the streets of the capital. At the same time, we see profiteers making millions and all along there is no plan. That lack of plan is the central failure by Government time and time again. We see that even with a revised White Paper and still no end in sight as to what plan the Government has to work off.
The Deputy should hold on. We are providing those basics that he mentioned to more than 100,000 people.
It is providing the basics of a tent.
My Department was providing-----
A tent to 1,000 asylum seekers?
The Minister to reply.
My Department was providing accommodation to 7,500 thousand people in December 2021 and is now providing accommodation to more than 100,000 people. No other Department has ever had to meet such an enormous humanitarian challenge in such a tight period. I have always accepted in this House that the response has not been perfect and there are elements we could do better. If we had known there was going to be a war in Ukraine breaking out in February 2022, we could have done things differently, but we did not know that. Nobody knew that and we have had to respond in the best way we could to meet the basic needs of people here fleeing that war and wars in Syria and Afghanistan and conflicts throughout the Middle East. We have done our best with the system we had. While we are meeting those very immediate daily needs, we are also bringing forward reforms to make that system different in the future.
Not only is the Minister failing communities, he is also failing those who are coming to these shores seeking protection by providing non-human right-compliant accommodation, something he gave a commitment to end. I appreciate without a doubt that there have been challenges. However, when the war in Ukraine broke out, the Minister and his Government colleagues were saying we should expect up to 200,000 Ukrainians to come to this State. That has not materialised. Where was the plan to accommodate 200,000? The Government does not even have a plan to accommodate 100,000. Time and time again, it has failed. It has failed communities and those who are seeking our protection. The failure is in not having a fair, efficient and enforced system in place. Again and again, we are told we will have a plan but it will come in a couple of weeks and will be presented to Cabinet. Here we are in March. The Minister gave a commitment to this House back in November that a plan would be produced and handed over the Cabinet within weeks, there is no sight as to what the Government's plan is to address the war profiteering in the first instance, where these speculators are making millions on the back of this, and more importantly, to put in place human right-compliant accommodation for those who need it.
I thank the Deputy. We have in place an efficient system for the processing of Ukrainians arriving here seeking temporary protection.
There is no efficient system.
The system for Ukrainians has worked extremely well and that is why we have been able to welcome-----
What about international protection applicants?
-----more than 100,000 Ukrainians and allow them integrate into communities all over the country.
Regarding IP the system was not fit for purpose. It was a system in which people were spending from six to eight years trying to get their application processed. That is why the Minister, Deputy McEntee, has made major changes. She has doubled the number of staff in the international protection office. The staff are processing more than 1,000 applications every month to give people their first-instance decision. We have examined the safe country list and expanded that where it is relevant. We have put in place changes such as removing the visa waiver for those who have received international protection elsewhere. We have a rules-based system and we have improved those rules.
The rules are not enforced.
We have tightened up those rules and we will continue to examine the system to-----
Rules are only as good as their enforcement.
-----make sure they are robust for the numbers of those seeking international protection now.
With the agreement of the House and if the Ministers are agreeable, the next question is in the name of Deputy Pauline Tully and then I will move back to Deputy Farrell's questions, Nos. 93 and 95.
97. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth with anecdotal evidence of a 60% vacancy rate in Cavan children's disability network team, CDNT, if he will give a update on the vacancy rate within both Cavan and Monaghan CDNTs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9735/24]
I ask the Minister of State about anecdotal evidence of a 60% vacancy rate in Cavan's CDNT. Will she give an update on the vacancy rate both within Cavan and Monaghan CDNTs? I did not make reference to this in the previous question because I did not expect to reach this question today.
The Government acknowledges challenges faced by children and young people with disabilities and their families accessing essential therapy services in Cavan and Monaghan. The staff vacancy rate for Cavan, which is an Enable Ireland team, is currently 58% with a total of 11.96 whole-time equivalent staff in situ. The staff vacancy rate for Monaghan HSE is at 39%, with a total of 17.81 whole-time equivalent staff in situ. Currently, there are 570 children on the caseload in the CDNT in Cavan and 662 in the CDNT in Monaghan. Work is ongoing to bolster the CDNTs and enhance their staffing complement to provide suitable appointments for therapy services.
To achieve this, I am pleased to report a positive response to the recent CDNT recruitment campaign, Be part of our team, be part of their lives, which received more than 500 applications and the HSE national and local HR is now progressing to the next stage of the selection process with appointments expected in the coming weeks. They have examined what areas of the country people had chosen to be in. They have been sent out to the CHOs the same way they have also been sent to Enable Ireland. I have to meet with Enable Ireland representatives in the coming days to see if it is working at the same pace as the HSE to start interviews and identify the sites where successful candidates can be put and how quickly this can be done.
The HSE is also driving a number of initiatives to provide supports so urgently needed for wait-listed children. The HSE launched the children's disability service grant, which has an aim of strengthening services for children with a disability currently waiting on CDNT service and that is due to be launched in the next two or three days. We are very close to having that finalised. The fund calls for applications for disability service providers and community groups that can provide additional innovative services such as recognised sensory programmes, evidence-based therapies, respite services, clubs, evening and weekend sessions and additional therapy sessions for services users such as managing challenging behaviours.
Just this week, I became aware that the manager in the Cavan CDNT is on maternity leave. Is she going to be replaced? The lady who is currently covering the position is based in Navan but that may just be temporary. We really need a full-time manager in the service.
A parent was in contact with me yesterday - and she is not alone in this situation - who was equally angry and upset and really at her wits' end. She has three children with additional needs but one of them was referred to the CDNT by CAMHS. Her son was sent there for an assessment for ADHD and he was referred back to the team in 2020. She visited the CDNT, got in touch with the staff in July 2022 to find her son was not on their list. She went back to CAMHS, got the referral letter, brought it back, hand-delivered it to the CDNT and thought he should then be on the list. She went in this week and he is still not on the list. She is really angry because she has lost four years of him being on a list where he should have been receiving some sort of support and services. She is not the only one who fell between cracks when the new progressing disability services programme was set up. Some children were referred to primary care, others to the CDNT, but many feel between the two.
The Deputy has hit a nerve with me on that particular case because it clearly indicates that the national access plan, NAP, which is the HSE's own policy, is not working. If the NAP was working, it would mean when the letter had come back, that child would be automatically added and the parent would not have to go back twice and for their child not to be on the list. NAP is where there are primary care, disability, and mental health services there is an integrated approach. It a communication tool between primary care, disabilities, and mental health in order that the clinicians are communicating amongst themselves to ensure the child is at the centre and getting the service he or she needs. The child should be appropriately placed on the team where the services would meet his or her needs. When the referral letter returns back to the CDNT, I wonder what decisions they are making and on what their decision is based. Is it the fact that it was a CAMHS referral initially and for whatever reason, it was not sent it back?
There is a real lack of understanding and communication in the role of that clinician.
The child was referred to CAMHS for an ADHD assessment but CAMHS said the child is autistic and would need the services of the CDNT. There was more to the story beforehand but I will not go back on it again. I have other parents waiting for services.
Another parent who was waiting for services and who has not received any is trying to put together enough funding to get a private assessment done for her child because she just feels she has to do this. To do that she needs some sort of form or referral from the CDNT and the staff on the team said they cannot give it because they has not seen the child. The parent is really caught in a situation where she cannot access private support without some sort of assessment from the CDNT but the CDNT will not give that because they have not seen the child. If the CDNT had been seeing the child and the child was in their services, the parent would not need to go and access an assessment privately.
I was told that a family forum that was held recently was very poorly attended and that they seem to be getting more disillusioned. It ended up that they said that the issue with the team in Cavan is that nobody wants to work in Cavan. That is not true.
It is important for me to recognise the staffing deficits in Cavan and Monaghan. Not only do I recognise it but so does the HSE. Hence, when the children's disability service grant is launched, I hope the Deputy will see an uplift in support for the families and the children. The recruitment is taking place as we speak. When I met the leads and the heads of the HSE only last Tuesday I asked when I should expect that staff would be in place. Staff should be in place mid-April, or the start of May at the latest. That is why I am anxious to meet Enable Ireland to ensure I get exactly the same answers. Some 500 staff applications is a sizeable segment when one considers that the campaign was run only over a four-week period.
I have also set up an interdepartmental, interstate, high-level ministerial group, which I chair myself, to see how we can continue the workforce planning and to ensure that we can meet not just clinicians but the wider workforce that is required to enable our CDNTs to function.
93. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to provide an update on the autism innovation strategy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8383/24]
My question relates to the autism innovation strategy and the Minister of State's view on the results of the strategy, the implementation of it, and her general view on its capacity to be effective.
The programme for Government contains a commitment to the autism innovation strategy and the development of a national autism strategy. This autism innovation strategy is currently at an advanced stage in response to this commitment. It is my intention that the strategy will be launched in the first half of this year. This is an important priority for me and for the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman. I am so ambitious I would like to have it done during autism awareness month. I would like to think we will have it done in early April so parents will be able to see what our ambition is for the rest of our term.
The autism innovation strategy will identify ways to address the bespoke challenges and barriers faced by autistic people and to improve understanding of autism within society and across the public system in a way that complements and enhances wider action on disability. The autism innovation strategy will contain actions that will be undertaken right across Government to better support autistic people and their families over an 18-month period.
Development of the autism innovation strategy is nearing completion and a draft was published on 9 February this year. The draft strategy was prepared based on feedback received as part of an initial public consultation and following discussions with Departments and agencies to agree actions under the strategy.
The draft strategy was published as part of a further public consultation to give the autistic community, their families and supporters another opportunity to have their say. It is actually open at the moment for the second round of public consultation so I appeal to anybody watching and to my colleagues to ensure people feed into that. I am committed to this as part of the development process. Further public consultation on this will be held but will be completed in mid-March so that we have it ready for publication in April.
I genuinely admire the Minister of State's ambition as she has set out. With regard to the public participation, a very good number of autistic individuals who engaged with this. I do not have the numbers in front of me but I think it was approximately 40% from what I read earlier this morning. I am encouraged by that but overall numbers were quite low so the Minister of State's call for participation is absolutely timely. I was taken by a couple of the remarks in the published report mentioned by the Minister of State, which is on her Department's website. It states:
Autistic people should be involved in development, monitoring and review of the autism innovation strategy ... [coupled with] ... the opportunity to move towards a rights-based and person-centred approach which supports the Autistic person's will and preferences, and the right to be their Autistic self.
I was quite taken by that because it is of critical importance. What element of the strategy, once we get to the end of this public consultation process on the implementation side, does the Minister of State believe autistic individuals will have the capacity to engage with?
I was also pleased to appoint an autism innovation strategy oversight and advisory group that has helped to reshape it. That is made primarily of people who are neurodivergent. I facilitate the gathering of the people but the people who are there are neurodivergent and are shaping the strategy. They are the ones who are setting out the various strands within it. I believe in the model of co-design but at this stage the co-design is of the neurodivergent persons as opposed to the officials within our Department. We are stepping back and providing secretarial support to enable it to come to complete fruition and I see the roll-out, follow-up and implementation in exactly the same way, with the oversight group and the advisory group overseeing it.
I just left an all-party autism committee meeting to ask this question and made a bit of an entrance as I did so. The key question I have on this process is twofold. The first part relates to the sharing of information between various Departments and agencies as to the number of autistic people across the State so that we as a House, a Government, as a Legislature can appropriately apply budgets for the provision of those services across all Departments. We really do need to be able to set that out and I hope it will form part of the strategy; and if it does not, that it forms part of the outcome of that strategy.
If it does not, I might ask the Minister of State to comment on the capacity of Government as a whole to provide adequate services on the basis of knowing the numbers because data is just so important. Her colleague in the Department of Health talks about nothing without data and this is probably one of those occasions where that might be helpful in this Department.
Absolutely. The first part of the autism innovation strategy was to bring a whole-of-government approach to ensure that we created awareness in all Departments. Some of the time we would say that there was a lot of low-hanging fruit in a lot of the Departments but while working on some of that low-hanging fruit, we gather the data at the same time. It feeds into the national disability strategy as well so it is not in a silo. There is a whole mainstreaming-first approach but also feeding in and gathering the data so we can enable Departments to have ring-fenced budgets to ensure full and equal inclusion and participation of the neurodivergent community as well as the disability community among all the Departments.
95. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth his Department’s priorities for 2024 with regard to the Action Plan for Disability Services 2024–2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8384/24]
My next question is about the Minister of State's Department's priorities for 2024 regarding the action plan for disability Services 2024
The Government is committed to the expansion of specialist services for people with disabilities. The Action Plan for Disability Services 2024-2026, which was published on 14 December, represents a national strategy for capacity increases and service and policy reform in disability services. It is important to say that it is the first time we will have policy funding and reform all under the one Department where we are putting equal rights for people at the centre. It was informed by findings from the disability capacity review, published in 2021, in addition to cross-governmental input and an extensive public consultation.
The service areas for investment for 2024 under the action plan have been agreed through the budgetary process.
Specifically, €74 million has been allocated for new development measures that will provide greater investment across a range of disability services, mainly residential, for which more than €20 million will be allocated. There will also be €15 million for respite care, which in a full year will be €25 million; €18.2 million for day services, which is for approximately 1,250 school leavers; €8.5 million for the development of children's services, including 125 therapy assistants; and €11.9 million for the development 80,000 extra PA hours for further enhanced community neurological supports.
The precise level of delivery of services for people with disabilities, based on the funding in budget 2024, is set out in the HSE's service plan. The action plan contains further enabling actions designed to begin the necessary groundwork that will help position us to make further capacity increases in 2025, 2026 and beyond. These include actions on workforce, improved data and management systems, assessment of costs, stakeholder engagement and access to housing. In fact, for us to meet the disability action plan commitments, I need 320 houses. That is one part of it.
With regard to the challenges on the residential side, I will engage with the Minister for housing on how our Departments can work together to deliver the housing requirements to meet the targets in the plan.
I thank the Minister of State. That is a very comprehensive response, which I very much appreciate. As she will be aware, in March 2023, specialist disability services were transferred to her Department. The area that I want to focus on with regard to the disability action plan is early intervention, and in particular the assessment of need, staffing levels in general and the children's disability network teams, CDNTs, among other things. I note the ambition to hire 600 additional whole-time equivalent staff in this strategy for 2024 to 2026 to build capacity, in particular in the multidisciplinary teams. This is of course very welcome. However, we know - because we have spoken about this many times, I regret - that it is a challenge. Has the Minister of State a progress update, even though it is 29 February? Has there been any progress on that particular ambition in the plan?
I thank the Deputy, and it gives me the opportunity to set out here that we have put in place the workforce task force, which is really at a high level. It is not just our Department; it includes the Departments of Health, Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science and Social Protection, and it also includes jobs and recruitment. There is a wide span on it, and at all times we are looking at how we can increase capacity here and now, which is the assistant therapist course that the Minister, Deputy Harris has put in place. It is in our action plan that we will recruit 250 in the next two years but we cannot recruit them unless the courses are set out by the ETBs, which the Minister, Deputy Harris has put in place. We also need to have more masters programmes and additional spaces being created. That has been put in place, and I look forward to seeing some of this rolled out in September of next year. It is important to say that we have also seen that speech and language provision was increased by 120 additional posts.
There is a whole-of-government and whole-of-state approach here in increasing the workforce. The 500 applications that came in on the back of the Christmas campaign has been the best sign of light I have seen in a long time.
I am encouraged by that answer, and it is very good to hear. If I look at CAMHS in my constituency - and again, I appreciate the cross-departmental view but disability support is critical - our numbers are moving in the right direction. As the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman will be aware, Fingal, with the youngest, fastest-growing community in Ireland, has acute needs, and those needs are unfortunately stacking up. I welcome the news that there are up to 500 individuals who have applied. How quickly can those individuals be rolled out in the appropriate places with the appropriate expertise across the service provision?
I have one key issue that the Minister of State might address in her response. Does she have a view on supports for children going from supported education, for instance, from primary school into secondary school, where the supports do not necessarily follow? I am pleased she mentioned school leavers with regard to the strategy laid out in this plan. It is obviously of key importance to children as once they turn 18 and leave the education system, there tends to be a gap.
Absolutely. That school leaver piece is very important to me and the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman. More than €18 million has been secured for it. Not only that but we are also looking at when the transition planning needs to start. I do not believe that the final year is the right year to do it. I have seen what has been done in Cumas in Wexford this year through the ability programme under the Minister, Deputy Humphreys. Four social workers were involved in it. It ensured that we started planning for the school leavers in transition year. There was a proper placement, and the family and the individual could be brought along. Sometimes day services do not need to be engaged and an alternative more suitable pathway can be found for them. That is the transition planning.
Regarding my views on education, normally where there are two Ministers involved, I will step aside and leave it to the two Ministers. The other question was about the Deputy's own area, CHO 9, which is the fastest growing area. I only met with Mellany McLoone and Olive Hanley on Tuesday and they have a plan on how best they can enable having them interviewed and out in the spaces by the start of May. They also have two residential houses to open.
89. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the extent to which he remains satisfied that the rights of the child are fully recognised in accordance with the people's decision in a referendum; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9588/24]
I will forego the introduction and await the reply.
I thank the Deputy. In January of last year. I led a delegation to the a hearing of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in Geneva. The committee welcomed the progress Ireland has made to respect children’s rights, including the Children First Act 2015 and other legislative and policy measures. That Act operates side-by-side with the non-statutory obligations provided for in Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children 2017.
Young Ireland: the National Policy Framework for Children and Young People 2023-2028 sets out a number of planned actions to ensure children’s rights are central to decision-making across Government. Work has started on implementing Young Ireland, which was published only recently. Furthermore, the Child Care Act 1991 is being revised and updated to better reflect changes in child welfare and protection services in Ireland in the 30 years since its original enactment and the constitutional recognition of children as individual rights holders. My aim is to ensure that the amendment Bill contains robust provisions that serve vulnerable children as well as providing Tusla with a strong statutory footing to carry out its obligations under the Act. Pre-legislative scrutiny, PLS, has been undertaken on the Bill, so we are drafting the final draft now. It remains a priority for me, and I want to see it published and progressed through the Houses this year.
The passing of the Child Care (Amendment) Act 2022 enables the establishment of a new guardian ad litem, GAL, national service as an executive office of the Department. These are the GALs, the guardians ad litem that help and represent children in legal processes with regard to their care.
Finally, the participation of children and young people is fundamental to a child-centred, rights-based approach to working with children and young people. I always cite the engagement I had with Comhairle na nÓg, and no doubt the Deputy knows that three years ago, the Kildare Comhairle na nÓg engaged me with an idea for a free travel card for young adults. I brought that idea to the Minister, Deputy Ryan, and he brought it to the Minister, Deputy McGrath at the time. In budget 2021, we introduced the young adult travel card, which took 50% off the cost of public transport for young adults between 17 and 23. In last year's budget, the age threshold was raised to 25. That was an initiative that came from young people, and it is a really tangible example of how we treat them in Ireland.
I thank the Minister for that comprehensive reply. However, notwithstanding best efforts, there are ongoing developments and family law cases where the children's rights are deemed not to be observed to the extent intended in the referendum to which the Minister referred, and further legislation. In those circumstances, is it intended to enhance the powers of Tusla to intervene regardless on the side of child, which is the important issue in this case, to ensure those rights are preserved in accordance with the best practice?
That is very much central to the child care (amendment) Bill 2023, which has undergone PLS. Deputy Funchion is present; her committee reviewed it. There is an extensive set of recommendations. One of the key elements is a recognition that for probably some of the children who are most vulnerable, the solution to their situation does not just rest with Tusla. It may rest with CAMHS also or with children's disability services.
One of the key things we are trying to do is to create a more integrated approach. In particular, we want to place a duty on other State agencies to co-operate with Tusla in their approach to this child. We have all seen siloed situations where State agencies can say something is not their problem. We cannot have this in the context of children. Tusla is the lead when it comes to a vulnerable child, but other State agencies also have a role in resolving that situation. We want to put a legislative obligation on them to do more.
