Places secured for St. Michael’s graduates after campaign

Parents of children with intellectual disabilities are breathing a sigh of relief this Christmas as the long-running saga of securing day centre places has come to an end.

In late June, parents of those with children who attended Saint Michael’s House in Baldoyle received news that despite their children graduating, they would not be afforded places in adult day centres.

The “rejection letter” as the parents came to call it, was a source of significant stress for those involved, and in October, Northside People reported that some children at the centre of the issue were regressing without proper structure and routine in place.

The letter informed families that their family member had not had their referral accepted owing to a combination of staff shortages, a lack of suitable facilities and a “significant” existing waiting list for adult services.

In the letter, St. Michael’s House CEO Liz Reynolds said: “I know that you may have a long association with St. Michael’s House through your child’s school and we regret St. Michael’s House cannot continue to provide services to your family member.”

However, the story has had a positive outcome.

Following intervention by Minister of State Anne Rabbitte, permanent places have been secured for the majority of families involved.

While there are still lingering issues surrounding transport for those who avail of wheelchairs, there is a collective sense of relief among those involved that the principal issue, a lack of day centre places, has come to an end.

Respite services will be provided to adults with intellectual disabilities at various day centres across Dublin.

Speaking to Northside People, Ali Field, who helped organise a protest outside Leinster House in September after the letter was brought to her attention, said the news was positive but “all of this could have been done a year ago.”

“All they (Saint Michael’s) had to do is discuss this problem with the parents last October, instead of sending a last-minute letter,” she said.

“These kids have non-curable disabilities, the State has known this since birth, but no proper plan was put in place.”

“My main question is who kept this a secret, and why?” Parent Sharon Flood said she took a meeting in August with Reynolds, the head of St. Michael’s, but was reportedly told “there was nothing we can do” about the situation.

“I got the feeling that she was of no help,” Flood said.

Despite the misgivings, a majority of the intellectually disabled adults at the heart of the story have started in day centres and are “loving it.”

“The group chat is obviously delighted, and we have loads of parents saying their child is excited to be getting out and about again after so much time at home,” Field said.

“I’m delighted the issue has been resolved, but the take-home message here is that we make sure this never happens again, and we need to make sure that no other family has to go through this ordeal.”

In some cases, care services will only be provided for 3 days a week, but there is hope that in the new year more spaces and provisions will open up so that services can be provided 5 days a week, and there are hopes that the transport issues will be resolved.

While Field was glad the issue was resolved in time for Christmas, she questioned why it took from the issue emerging in late June until late November for the issue to be sorted.

“This issue only affected about 20 families on the Northside of Dublin, but I have real concerns about the scope of this problem on a national level.”

The issue was brought to the attention of Northside politicians, with Social Democrats TD Cian O’Callaghan telling The Journal in September “this an appalling way to treat people.”

“Government promised that places would be in place for each person this September and have let them down very badly.”

Field has aspirations of her own to run for office, running in next year’s local elections for Labour in Clontarf, and she said seeing how establishment politicians deal with disability issues will inform her campaign.

Northside TD Aodhán Ó Ríordáin helped parents get in contact with people in the Dáil, and the Labour TD ultimately set up a meeting with Fianna Fáil Minister Anne Rabbitte who is Minister of State for people with disabilities.

Field and the other St Michael’s parents sat in on numerous meetings with Rabbitte, who helped bring the issue to an end in November.

While thankful for Rabbitte’s intervention in the issue, Field said the experience was eye-opening concerning how Government departments treat people with disabilities.

“I get the sense that yes, the State is aware of your child and their disability, but their overarching attitude is ‘it’s your problem to deal with, not ours’.”

“This is an issue for so many families across Ireland, in doing research for this I heard of eight families who went through a similar situation in Goatstown on the Southside so this is an issue that really needs to be addressed.”

She said that the issue was bigger than something one Minister or Government department could tackle and indeed points to a more pressing and pertinent issue at the heart of disability services in Ireland.

Field has two sons, and says that she hopes the situation is resolved by the time her youngest son is of age.

“I just hope we don’t have to go through this whole thing again in a few years.”