Disability services must be properly funded in Winter Plan
Labour Party Leader and Health spokesperson, Alan Kelly TD, has said that the HSE’s Winter Plan must allocate significant resources to disability services.
Deputy Kelly said:
“As part of the upcoming HSE Winter Plan, the Government must allocate significant funding to disability services.
“Before Covid hit our shores funding for many disability services were already in dire straights, with funding in jeopardy for many services.
“Covid-19 has shone a light on the incredible impact that disability services have on those that avail of their services and how quickly people can deteriorate when these services are taken away.
“Many service operators can only operate at a 40% capacity at the moment and stricter social distancing and hygiene protocols must be in place. This is having a huge effect on those who use and work in these services.
“Having to make services safer for those that are high-risk is obviously a very costly endeavour, and the Government needs to make allowances for this in both the upcoming Winter Plan and Budget 2021.
“Properly resourced disability services must be a key tenet of the upcoming Winter Plan – people with disabilities were totally left behind by the Government when Covid first landed on our shores and subsequent roadmaps to open society were produced, we cannot allow that to happen again.”