Several hundred people with intellectual disabilities were turned away from residential care units yesterday as the care workers' strike began, wrires Joe Humphreys.
By yesterday evening it was confirmed that almost 500 residential patients across the State had been sent back to family members. Care workers warned that more would be returned today if the strike continued.
Dublin and Galway appeared to have been worst affected due to a concentration of IMPACT workers in those counties.
DUBLIN: St Michael's House, whose headquarters are on Ballymun Road, was the largest facility affected. Day services for about 200 people were cancelled, and about 80 people who would normally have been in residential care were sent home with their parents' agreement. Respite services were closed but emergency cover was provided.
The Daughters of Charity, at Chapelizod and the Navan Road, sent home 103 residents early yesterday. Director of services Mr Wally Freyne said: "We had to take in one or two back" yesterday evening because of "understandable" problems.
Only 10 of 30 Daughters of Charity homes were open in Dublin as 90 employees went on strike.
St John of God services in a number of Dublin locations were also said to have been severely curtailed with an estimated 110 patients sent home.
Stewart's Hospital Services in west Dublin, however, was said to be largely unaffected.
CORK: The parents of some 220 children who had been advised by the COPE Foundation not to come in yesterday were later able to attend as usual after SIPTU announced it would defer action pending the outcome of talks.
Other caring institutions in Cork, including the Brothers of Charity at Lota and St Patrick's at Upton where the majority of staff are SIPTU members, were also running normally yesterday.
GALWAY: The Galway Association, which runs 22 group homes, said it had turned away more than 50 of 110 residents. "We've about 60 places left tonight," said chief executive Mr Tom Hogan, "and that number will be reduced tomorrow". While residential services had been "paralysed", day services for 400 clients were continuing as normal.
The Brothers of Charity, with more than 20 homes in the Galway area, said they had sent home 50 people. Director of services Mr Pat McGinley said a further 70 people were "extremely discommoded" as they had to be moved to other homes.
LIMERICK: The Daughters of Charity were operating only nine of 20 residential houses. Some 48 people were on strike, resulting in more than 40 of 87 residential clients being sent home.
SOUTH EAST: The Brothers of Charity said its services in Waterford and south Tipperary were badly affected with 92 per cent of its house parents and assistant house parents on strike.
More than 35 patients were sent home to families and a further 25 were relocated. "Our existing cover arrangements will run out on Thursday morning and it is likely that we will face even more severe difficulties if the industrial action is continuing at that stage," said Ms Johanna Cooney, director of services for the south east.
MIDLANDS: Care centres in Longford and Westmeath were said to have been unaffected because most workers were represented by SIPTU.
NORTH EAST: A North Eastern Health Board spokeswoman said services had not been affected, nor had St John of God services in Co Louth been affected.
