Carrickmacross Group Home set to be opening shortly – Matt Carthy
Cavan Monaghan Sinn Féin TD, Matt Carthy, has said that the Group Home for people with physical disabilities, at the Convent Lands, in Carrickmacross, is due to become operational within weeks, according to a commitment he has received from the HSE.
Deputy Carthty said this week that the families of those who will be residing at the group home have been treated scandalously by the HSE and successive governments and it is imperative that this latest commitment be delivered upon.
The home was first committed to in 2006 but has been subject to ongoing delays from that time. It was finally constructed in 2016 but has remained idle ever since because the funding necessary to operate it has not been released.
Deputy Carthy has been raising this issue on behalf of families since 2007 when he was a member of Monaghan County Council. Throughout his time as a local councillor and even while in the European Parliament he engaged with the local authority, the HSE and government representatives. Since his election to the Dáil in February 2020 he has consistently raised the issue with the Minister for Health and the Minister of State with responsibility for Disabilities.
This week he received a written response from the HSE that their previous operation date of Quarter 4 2021 remains in place.
Ms. Edel Quinn, Head of Service Disability CHO1 for the HSE informed Deputy Carthy that:
“Cavan Monaghan Disability Services have confirmed that the group home will be in operation in Quarter 4, 2021. It will accommodate up to five adults with Physical and Sensory disability. The group home will be a social model of care facility with 24 hour nursing input supported by Social Care Workers. The staffing levels will be determined based on the needs of the residents and may change as care needs change”.
Speaking afterwards Deputy Carthy said it that the delays in this project have been disgraceful.
He said:
“It is simply not acceptable that this state-of-the-art building has lay idle for five consecutive years.
“It is an indictment on successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governments that the families of those people with disabilities who will reside in this home have had to fight every step of the way. Their ordeal must end now – the home must become operational this year; I am hopeful that the HSE have reaffirmed that it will be so, but I will continue to monitor the situation closely.”
ENDS
