Respite services in ‘disarray’, say carer groups

Respite services are in a state of disarray with inconsistent supports provided to family carers around the State, advocacy groups have said.

Inclusion Ireland and Care Alliance Ireland called for a national respite strategy to address what they said was the ad hoc provision of such services.

They requested that Minister for Health Leo Varadkar and Minister for Disabilities Kathleen Lynch form a working group to examine such a strategy.

Inclusion Ireland, the national association for people with an intellectual disability, said the Government must provide clarity to "frustrated family members who are struggling to secure adequate respite care and are being left at the whim of service providers".

Chief executive Paddy Connolly said respite care was an essential resource that offered important support to the whole family.

“However, the provision of respite care services is in a state of disarray with no ring-fenced budget designated to protect these much-needed services.Minister for Health Leo Varadkar has recently liaised with families involving the provision of respite care in his own constituency. However, we want him to provide some coordination on this pressing issue on a national scale,” Mr Connolly said.

Families living in the Navan Road and Blanchardstown areas were informed this week that the HSE will make €873,000 available to open a new residential centre for children with profound special needs.

Four respite care beds at the Daughters of Charity service attended by their children have been largely unavailable for the last two and a half years because three children were living full-time in the unit.

“Inclusion Ireland hears from dozens of family members each year who tell us that the quality, setting and frequency of respite care services vary greatly from area to area. There are examples of innovative respite care – but the services that are available to families depends greatly on geographical location,” Mr Connolly said.

“In many cases parents are not being offered a service that caters to individual needs and are being offered a one-size-fits-all model. But each family has differing needs. Parents should have greater choice over the services and supports they receive and different models of respite care should be available. Over the years, respite houses have been closed and respite reduced by service providers as a result of HSE cuts to funding.”

Executive director of Care Alliance Ireland, Liam O’Sullivan, said: “Family carers in Ireland must be confident that they will have reasonable access to suitable and timely respite. However, this is not currently the case with all too many family carers in Ireland.”