A CHARITY that provides homecare and respite services to families of babies born with severe intellectual disability has warned it will have to cut its services by 25 to 30 per cent next year unless it gets additional funding from the State.
The Jack & Jill Foundation said yesterday 100 of the 320 babies now on its books will have to return to hospital intensive care units if this happens, costing the State nine times more.
Its founder Jonathan Irwin told Oireachtas health committee members he badly needed their help. He said the children his charity was caring for were the responsibility of the State but most of the money now funding their care came from fundraising.
He said that over the past two years the cost of providing services had increased by 40 per cent while donations to the foundation were down 25 per cent.
The result was the foundation was facing a shortfall of €450,000 this year. It needs the HSE to double the annual grant to the foundation from €556,000 to €1.3 million.
If the money isn’t provided and there is a 30 per cent cut in Jack & Jill’s services, it will cost the HSE an additional €14.7 million in 2011 to care for children currently looked after by the foundation, Mr Irwin said.
Jack & Jill has raised €30 million through public donations and mobile phone recycling since 1997. It has received a total of €4 million in funding from the HSE over that period.
Members of the committee from all political parties supported the case made by the foundation and agreed to raise it with Minister for Health Mary Harney, Minister of State with responsibility for disability services John Moloney and the new HSE chief executive Cathal Magee.
The Jack & Jill Foundation is due to meet Mr Moloney next week.