A proposal to transfer St John of God’s services to the HSE would be a “serious blow” to people with mental health issues and intellectual disabilities. 

That’s according to Minister of State for Disability Anne Rabbitte after the organisation announced it would transfer services to the HSE if it didn’t receive increased funding. 

Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast, Deputy Rabbitte said she was “incredibly disappointed” by the prospect of the service being lost. 

“When we heard this on Friday at 1pm, it was a serious blow completely,” she said. 

Over 8,000 people use St John of God for intellectual disability and mental health services. Some 3,000 employees work across 300 locations in Dublin, Kildare, Kerry, Wicklow, Meath, Monaghan and Louth. 

Deputy Rabbitte said HSE Chief Bernard Gloster has worked “intensively” over the weekend to ensure those services remain within St John of God. 

“They are meeting again today with hopefully with a positive step in the right direction, and hopefully not to be pursuing this,” she said. 

'Long-standing debt'

Deputy Rabbitte said the transfer of services was proposed by St John of God because of “long-standing debt” that it attributes to low State funding. 

“There's two parts to it,” she said. “The operational side of it and there's the long-standing debt. 

“Bernard had made very clear commitments to the operational piece of it and that there was sufficient funding for delivering services in 2024 – it was unquestionable that the HSE were going to support that. 

“But I suppose I want to acknowledge that there has been an issue with funding in relation to deficits not just in St. John's, but in a lot of organisations.” 

Deputy Rabbitte also pointed out, however, that St John of God should have “given due consideration” to the HSE’s commitment to maintaining the service. 

While there are “clear deficits” across many disability organisations, according to Deputy Rabbitte, St John of God must bring this to the HSE “in good faith” before the cease services.