THE HSE HAS been called upon not to implement any more cuts to funding for St Aidan’s Day Care Services in Gorey, Co Wexford, which provides services for people with a range of disabilities, children with special needs and older people.
Members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO), the Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA), IMPACT and SIPTU are jointly calling on the HSE not to implement any further cuts to funding for these vital services.
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They said that St Aidan’s Day Care Services currently provide services for over 300 people in North Wexford including residential care, day services for the elderly and for adults with special needs, pre-school education for children with special needs, rehabilitative training and respite care in the community.
The unions said that over the last five years, funding has been reduced by over half a million euro and staff who have left the service have not been replaced.
In order to deal with the budget cuts so far, management at St Aidan’s have implemented a pay cut and a number of other changes, they added, saying that unions are becoming increasingly concerned that any more cutbacks “will pose a risk for the future of St Aidan’s and the important services provided to their vulnerable clients”.
All the reconfiguration that can be done, has been done.
INMO Industrial Relations Officer Liz Curran said:
St Aidan’s Day Care Services in Gorey are already working under severe constraints and the current level of service is totally dependent on maintaining the current budget. It is inevitable that any further reduction would have significant negative consequences for the clients and their families. The INMO, PNA, IMPACT and SIPTU are committed to preserving services for these most vulnerable people in our society.
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