Submissions 2009
Submission: Review of Disability Services under the Value for Money and Policy Review Initiative 2008-2011
Publication Date: December 2009
A review of disability services is being carried out by the Office of Disability and Mental Health, within the Department of Health & Children, to examine current policy objectives for disability services, assess how well services meet these objectives and make recommendations on any changes needed for the future within a value for money framework.
In its submission, drawing on feedback from CISs and Voluntary/Community Disability Advocacy Projects, CIB focused on the implementation of the high level objectives set out for disability services. Shortcoming were noted in terms of inequality of access to services, lack of choice and gaps in the delivery of community supports, evidenced by difficulties experienced by people with a disability in accessing transport, accommodation and assisted living services relevant to their needs. Despite significant developments in assisted living, provision throughout the country remains patchy and there is an overall shortage of Personal Assistance hours.
Submission: National Positive Ageing Strategy A Submission by the Citizens Information Board
Publication Date: September 2009
The CIB welcomes the preparation of the National Positive Ageing Strategy which takes forward the commitment in the Programme for Government to better recognise the position of older people in Irish society. The CIB publishes a range of information resources aimed at older people. This submission draws on feedback in relation to the information needs of older people evidenced in queries to Citizens Information Services around the country. Older people have a higher than average proportion of queries relating to social welfare, health services and housing. The submission advocates a two-pronged approach: identifying factors that would contribute to a more positive view of ageing generally and a better understanding of the ageing process and secondly, targeting groups of older people who need additional supports because they are frail, ill or vulnerable or because of social or environmental factors. In such instances positive action targeting older people is required in order to ensure that they benefit equitably from mainstream service provision. It is imperative that older persons have equitable income and, therefore, relative improvements in the social welfare income of older persons in recent years should be consolidated.
Submission: National Positive Ageing Strategy A Submission
by the Citizens Information Board (Word) 
Submission: Draft Quality Standards for End of Life Care in Hospitals A Submission by the Citizens Information Board
Publication Date: August 2009
Submission: Centre for Housing Research, Evaluation of Housing Adaptation Grant Schemes for Older People and People with a Disability
Publication Date: April 2009
The Centre for Housing Research has been commissioned by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to undertake an evaluation of the three revised housing adaptation grant schemes implemented in 2007. The experiences of users of CISs and CIPS and of the voluntary/community disability advocacy projects provided evidence for the submission made by CIB to the evaluation. Ongoing difficulties reported with the revised schemes include the inadequate level of the grants to cover adaptation costs, delays in processing applications, prioritisation according to medical needs not always taking place in practice, eligibility being based on means and not on need and the lack of a formal appeals system for applicants who are refused a grant. Also, funding shortfalls have resulted in many local authorities suspending the grant schemes. People too have it difficult to get information from their Local Authority about the status of their application and without the assistance of an advocate would have found it difficult to navigate the system.
Submission: Department of Education & Science, Review of the School Transport Scheme
Publication Date: March 2009
The Citizens Information Board (CIB) welcomed the opportunity to make this submission as it is over ten years since the previous review. The core objective of the School Transport Scheme is to ensure that the private cost of transport to and from schools does not hinder access to first and second level education. Many improvements have been made to the School Transport Scheme over the years. However, a number of issues identified by CISs remain. Among them are concerns about pupils who are forced to travel outside of their catchment area in order to attend school because there are no available places in the local school and who cannot get a subsidy to cover their transport costs. Problems have also been identified with the transport service being provided on a first-come, first-served basis, with the result that a child who has a sibling at a same school may not be transported to that school under the scheme if there is no room on the bus. Also, maintaining and developing school transport services for children with special needs presents significant additional challenges since the costs of such provision are relatively high. The implementation of charges should not place excessive burdens on families taking into account the overall costs of schooling.
Submission: Department of Education & Science, Review
of the School Transport Scheme (Word)
Submission: NESF Review of Implementation of Home Care Packages
Publication date: March 2009
The CIB in its submission to the National Economic and Social Forum's Review of Home Care Packages acknowledges the importance of the initiative in enhancing the quality of life for older people and people with a high level of dependency living in the community. Some of the issues identified in this submission in respect of the Home Care Packages include: difficulties in getting a package in the first instance; the package provided being inadequate to meet need; difficulty in getting information about home care options and eligibility; waiting lists for home help services; general shortages of community based services; people being inappropriately placed in nursing homes; difficulties many people have in taking on an employer role when they are offered a cash grant and the need for carers to have supports in their own right.
Submission: NESF Review of Implementation of Home Care
Packages (Word)
Submission: Irish Hospice Foundation, Forum on End of Life
Publication Date: February 2009
The Citizens Information Board (CIB) welcomed the opportunity to contribute to the Forum on End of Life in Ireland Initiative and it supports the proposed establishment of a National Coalition on End of Life in Ireland in 2010 to advance the issues emerging from the Forum. The CIB recognises the particular challenge of developing a high quality end of life care system in acute hospitals and strongly supports the work of the Hospice Friendly Hospitals Programme in this regard. There is a need too for additional community-based services and hospices to support the Hospice Friendly Hospital Programme.
The CIB is interested in exploring how the role of information, advice and advocacy in relation to end of life can be enhanced and embedded in future initiatives. In developing a holistic and integrated approach to the provision of services in respect of end of life care, whether in a person's home, in hospital or nursing home or in a hospice setting, the principles for quality service delivery should apply.
Submission: Irish Hospice Foundation, Forum on End of Life
(Word)
Submission: Review of the Recommendations of Protecting Our Future: The Report of the Working Group on Elder Abuse
Publication Date: February 2009
The original report was published in 2002 by the working group on elder abuse, established by the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, with special responsibility for older people and this independent review has been commissioned by the National Council on Ageing and Older People. Some of the key areas for further attention identified by CIB in its submission include: the need to strengthen independent advocacy services; the need to look at additional ways of identifying and dealing with abuse where the issue is not reported by either the victim, other family member or professional; the need for comprehensive data sets; enhanced partnerships between the HSE and local voluntary/community organisations; and more supports for carers.
Submission: Department of Health and Children on a Strategy for Rehabilitation Services
Publication date: February 2009
The CIB in this submission welcomes the intention of the Department of Health and Children and the HSE to develop a national policy for the provision of rehabilitation services and the establishment of a working group accordingly. The submission draws on the experience of Citizens information Services and community and voluntary sector advocacy projects in providing information, advice and advocacy on social services. The submission recognises developments and innovation in recent years in the provision of rehabilitation services and the emphasis on co-ordinated multidisciplinary rehabilitation. Some of the key issues identified are lack of a common definition of rehabilitation and a tendency sometimes to view rehabilitation in isolation from other services and supports required for independent living, uneven service distribution and different practices in different parts of the country, a lack of step down facilities regionally for people discharged from rehabilitation, the shortage of community-based physiotherapists, occupational therapists and speech therapists and an absence of rehabilitation services in some residential services and nursing homes
Submission: Department of Health and Children on a Strategy
for Rehabilitation Services (Word)
Submission: Health Research Board, Disability Databases Unit, Draft Research Programme 2009-2011
Publication Date: January 2009
There is a need to strengthen the links between evidence-based data and the formulation of policy and actual practice in respect of all categories of people with disabilities. In its submission to the Health Research Board, CIB recommended that the research programme should include provision for disaggregating general national data for people with disabilities given the diversity of that population and that links with other data collection mechanisms be created. Greater awareness is required amongst general service providers of the databases and their added value capacity and a focus on outcomes for people with disabilities across the range of service areas. More data on the transport needs of people with different types of disability and in relation to independent living is also required.
