Council and HSE refuse to supply services for therapy
By Brendan Grehan
THE REFUSAL of the HSE and South Dublin County Council to provide Occupational Therapist services to people applying for home adaptation grants has been described by Sinn Féin Clondalkin Councillor Eoin Ó Broin as ‘inexplicable’ and ‘discriminatory’.
Cllr Ó Broin made the comments after the HSE confirmed that it provides OT services to residents in Tallaght but not to residents in Clondalkin.
South Dublin County Council provides a number of home adaptation grants to older people and people with disabilities. In order to qualify for a home adaptation grant the applicant has to provide an Occupational Therapist’s report detailing the works required to make the property suitable to the individual’s mobility needs.
Cllr Ó Broin told The Echo: “Private home owners must provide their own OT report, the cost of which is reimbursed as part of the grant payment.
The situation for council tenants is different. In Tallaght the HSE provides the OT reports, while in Clondalkin the council covered the cost. However earlier this year the council stopped funding the reports and referred Clondalkin tenants to the HSE.”
Cllr Ó Broin said that when Clondalkin council tenants approached the HSE they were told that the HSE did not have the required staff in the Community Care Organisation 7 region, which includes Clondalkin, and referred them back to the council.
He added: “As a result families with significant mobility restrictions are now left in limbo. They urgently require home adaptation works but are unable to apply unless they pay for a private OT report which can cost as much as €300.”
Cllr Ó Broin’s colleague, Mary Lou McDonald, recently tabled a Parliamentary Question in which the HSE confirmed in their reply that they will provide council tenants in Dublin 24 with the OT reports but not council tenants in Dublin 22.
Cllr Ó Broin said: “This really is inexplicable and amounts to discrimination. The idea that a person’s access to an Occupational Therapist report for the purposes of a home adaptation grant is based on your postcode is completely unfair.
“I am calling on South Dublin County Council to reinstate the payment for the OT reports as an interim measure and for the council and HSE to sit down and resolve this matter so that all council tenants in South Dublin are treated equally and receive the OT services on the basis of need and not where they live.”
The Echo contacted SDCC and asked if they had plans to reinstate paying for the OT reports. A spokesperson for SDCC told The Echo: “The County Council is in contact with the HSE for Clondalkin area in relation to this matter and discussions are continuing.”
