Cutback could end respite care for Galway families

By Denise McNamara

Disability services in Galway have been threatened with a further cut of €2m on top of the same cut earlier this year, amounting to its budget being slashed by nearly 9% for 2010 – which would effectively mean the end of respite care for hundreds of families within weeks. 

The news came just days after families organised a protest for Wednesday over the first round of cuts and the moratorium on staff which is already resulting in services being reduced for some clients.Acting Chief Executive of the Brothers of Charity in Galway, Anne Geraghty, said she learned on Friday that a second cut of €2m is on the cards after the HSE informed the board of directors it had to find savings for all health services in Galway of €15.5m.

The charity is also carrying a deficit from 2009 of €500,000 and had gone into their emergency reserves of €1.2m in order to maintain services at last year’s levels, which operated within a budget of €47m. However if the second cut is implemented, it will have a devastating impact across all frontline services, Ms Geraghty told the Sentinel.

“It will have huge implications for every part of our services. We have no capacity to cut anything else in backroom support.

“After the cuts of €1.8m last year, we have cut everything we can and tried as far as possible not to affect the frontline. You can’t have cuts of this magnitude without cutting frontline people who work directly with clients and their families.”

Eamon Walsh, chairman of the parents’ group Hope 4 Disability, said if this second round of cuts is imposed respite services will be cut within weeks.

“I’ve had dozens of frightened parents ringing me since Friday. It’s terrifying. This will mean in a number of weeks respite will close - that and other measures that are unthinkable. It’s absolutely shocking. These are just figures but the human impact is going to be massive,” said Mr Walsh.

For more, read this week's Connacht Sentinel.