Gorey protest at loss of respite services

By Dan Walsh

Families and individuals turned out in good numbers outside St. Aidan’s Day Care Centre at Millands, Gorey, this morning, to publicly voice their annoyance and frustration at a decision to close respite services at Mulcahy House, Árd Lios, for a 12-week period from May 1^st.

In a letter sent to service users and their families, Assistant Chief CEO James Traynor, said;  “We had hoped that a return to how we would normally operate in Mulcahy House was sustainable from January 1, 2023, when we reopened but, due to staffing vacancies across the service and in Mulcahy House itself, we cannot work to the standard we are used to, nor provide the level of service. These recruitment challenges have potential to put the individuals we support at a greater risk than we are able to mitigate at this present time, and we have the responsibility to operate a safe and effective service, this has always been our primary concern.

“We deeply regret that we have not been in a position to respond to requests for specific dates for respite, however, this is a direct result of the staffing shortages we are dealing with,” said the statement, which added; “We aim to work to a plan that will make our respite service more sustainable in the longer term, and we will review how we currently provide respite during this period of closure. We have advised the local HSE Disability Manager of the closure.”

Families of service users are devastated by the decision to deny North Wexford of respite services for three months which resulted in a public protest planned for this morning, which went off peacefully with a large attendance sending out a strong message to the HSE.