An Cathaoirleach Cllr. Fitzmaurice thanked the Members for their request to hold a special meeting to discuss the recently announced proposed closure of the Cuisle Accessibility Holiday and Respite Care Centre by the Irish Wheelchair Association.

He welcomed Mr. Tony Cunningham, Director of Volunteering and Housing for the Irish Wheelchair Association (IWA) to the meeting and invited him to speak to the members:

Mr. Cunningham outlined the position of the IWA with regard to the centre:

• IWA are promoting equal choice and equal access policy for people with disabilities as promoted by HSE and Slainte Care i.e. move on from congregated settings
• Want to move to an alternative model of provision of holiday facilities in hotels  - this has been piloted in a Kilkenny hotel where they can provide the necessary facilities for clients with the assistance of integrated services
• The Cuisle facility has delivered excellent care throughout the years since it came into use in 1997 however it needs substantial upgrade works in the order of €1.5million for primarily rewiring electrical works This was made known to the IWA after an inspection two years ago . The building was leased for the sum of €125k in 1997 for a 25 year period and this sum was paid up front at the time – the lease will expire in 5 years time.
• For the past two years, the IWA has sought capital funding from the HSE and having failed to secure this and therefore a decision was taken by the IWA Board to close the centre effective from 29^th November 2019 on health and safety grounds. This will result in redundancies but redeployments will be considered first
• The IWA are sourcing alternative facilities in hotels in Ballinasloe, Birr and Galway and intend to provide the same level of service.
• The IWA have deferred LEADER funding that is available for other works because they must first secure capital funding to do the electrical works and this is not forthcoming. Municipal District funding from the Council was also allocated  by the Athlone Area but cannot be taken up because of the situation. Some remedial works have taken place to address fire hazards.
• The biggest regret in this decision is the staff who have been the centre’s greatest asset in the service they provide to all the visitor throughout the years that the IWA has been using it. There has also always been a good relationship with the Divine Word Missionaries – the landlords.
• The IWA have invested in Cuisle throughout the years and had intended to develop it more and have recently rebranded but the surveys that showed the works that are required to make it safe have led the IWA to make the decision it has.
• Representations were made to the Ministers Office and they were referred to seek funding from the HSE as the appropriate body to grant this type of funding.
• The IWA had no plans to close the facility until this problem became apparent that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 158.19