Posts Tagged ‘ HSE ’

Most vulnerable targeted

Cutting money and services from the most vulnerable in our society is anathema to most logical thinking people.

Why would you want to take away from those who already suffer the most in society? What good can come from taking away money for vital services provided to those with special needs and learning difficulties?

This is the situation facing St. Aidan’s Services means their hands are tied and no matter what they do, they will either lose money or have to cut services. The indication from the HSE is that they will cut the group’s budget again in 2011. If they follow the trend of the previous two years and increase the cut in the service’s budget, St. Aidan’s could be facing a shortfall of over €300,000.

The problem is St. Aidan’s have already cut everything they can. They have moved suppliers on numerous occasions to find the cheapest deals. They have made savings everywhere they can so as not to cut services.

The whole staff bore the brunt of the 5.75percent decrease in their budget last year taking a pay cut in line with all HSE staff – though they were not obliged to do so.

The staff has even given up one of their overnight rooms so that a service user would have a bedroom.

The dedication and sacrifice made by the staff of St. Aidan’s is something which cannot be quantified and if you spoke to the families of any of the service users they would speak of their gratitude and respect for what St. Aidan’s offers to those that use its services.

Despite all this the HSE have indicated further cuts are coming down the line. But with things already cut to the bone to facilitate the budget cuts of recent years, the management of St. Aidan’s is facing the reality of cutting some of the services they provide.

However it’s not that simple. The HSE pay St. Aidan’s based on the services they provide therefore if they are forced to cut some of the services they offer, the HSE will further cut their funding.

It is a vicious circle and the management in St. Aidan’s are at a loss as to where to go from here.

Among the most vital services offered by St. Aidan’s is training which includes computer skills, personal development, career planning and job seeking skills yet these courses could very well be in jeopardy.

The group are set to move to a fantastic new facility in Gorey Business Park yet there are some worries they will not be able to make the move if further funding cuts are made.

The upshot of all these funding cuts could result in services being cut. These services will however have to be provided in some way by the HSE and will cost a hell of a lot more money for them to operate than it does for St. Aidan’s to provide.

The HSE seem to be looking at the short term rather than seeing the bigger picture. Supporting the amazing work being done by St. Aidan’s now will surely save them a lot of time, effort and money in the long-term.

While the HSE continues to cut the money for services in St. Aidan’s the people of Gorey continue to bolster its finances through continuous fundraising in the area. Without this money the buses would stop running and the effects of the wholly unfair HSE cuts would be a lot more severe.

We all know that money is not readily available at the moment but such penny pinching seems to be striking at the most vulnerable in society and could leave the users and their families with nowhere to turn in the very near future.

2010
08/11
CATEGORY
The Gorey Details
Wexford
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Legal Highs go underground

Legal Highs go

underground

Last week we reported in the paper that the head shop [The Stone Zone] based in Pugin Court on Michael’s Road in the town was to close.

While technically this was the case, the availability of the legal highs being sold in the store remains. A delivery service akin to a pizza or Chinese takeaway business is now in operation from the owner’s Wexford store.

All you need to do is text your order to the number posted on the closed front door of the shop and hey presto – you have your drugs delivered to your door.

While there was a broad welcoming of the closure of the store around Gorey last week, at a poorly attended meeting organised by the School Completion Programme in the Ashdown Park Hotel on Thursday night last, a HSE drugs officer warned about the lack of a public face on these head shops.

Susan Barnes, Drugs Education Officer, told the thirty or so parents who attended that the closure of the head shop may not be such good news. The sale of these legal highs has gone underground and only a mobile phone, which you cannot call, remains.

Ms. Barnes said by pushing these operators underground, the size and scale of the problem will not be known. It was easy for anyone to gauge the size of the problem previously by watching the shop for a while and noting how many people went in and out. This is no longer possible.

While the government is set on introducing legislation to curtail the operation of these shops, as Ms. Barnes pointed out, the people behind manufacturing these drugs have employed some of the world’s brightest minds.

From scientists to marketing gurus, the people who create the legal highs have consistently been one step ahead of the law makers in this and every other country. The government initially looked at banned certain products but this was attempted in the UK previously and the manufacturers had five replacement products ready to replace the banned one immediately.

All they need to do was change the active ingredient slightly and they circumvented the legislation.

The reason the head shop in Gorey closed its doors was because no insurance company in Ireland would cover Pugin Court while such a shop was operating from that location.

This may be an avenue other landlords could go down in their attempts to close the head shops but whatever they do it will not get away from the fact that there is a demand for these products.

The fact the owners have offered a delivery system to get their products to the people of Gorey is a clear indication of the amount of business they were doing while they were open. It is only a matter of time that another of these shops open in the town if there is such a demand.

Unfortunately the meeting last week was poorly attended as it is by informing and educating yourself about exactly what these drugs can do to you, can the problem begin to be solved.

Children are very susceptible as they see these shops openly selling the products legally and they believe they cannot do any harm.

Susan Barnes said the most important fact that parents needed to tell their children is that legal does not mean safe. This however is a hard message to get across.

The children no longer have any fear about these drugs as they were not illegal one parent told the meeting last week. This is a worrying fact and one that could see these products do some serious damage to the young people of Gorey before the government figure out a way of curtailing their sale.

2010
05/18
CATEGORY
The Gorey Details
Wexford
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Head Space

Head Shop

The issue of head shops seems to be pervading the media this week. From Prime Time to the front of the Enniscorthy Echo, the issue of unregulated shops selling synthetic products which mimic the effects of illegal drugs.

The message that legal does not mean safe is one the HSE are striving to get across and Susan Barnes, a County Wexford Drugs Education officer, has been flat-out spreading the word about the products available and the effects of such ‘legal highs’.

Susan has been invited to address a number of parent’s groups in and around Enniscorthy in recent weeks as parents realise what is exactly on their doorstep.

Enniscorthy is to get it’s third Head Shop in coming weeks. Along with Up in Smoke and House of Tinkicker, the new shop will offer a range of products to the public whose effects are like, and in some cases worse, than illegal drugs.

While the owner of Up in Smoke has said he has a strict over-18 policy, this has been proven to be not fully upheld. However this over-18 policy is a self-imposed regulation as the area is completely unregulated by the Irish government.

Whatever the legal aspects of this issue, another major issue raised by the recent proliferation of these shops in Enniscorthy and Wexford in general, is that there is a huge market out there for these products.

As Anto, the owner of Up in Smoke said if there wasn’t a market there we wouldn’t be in business. Think about it. How many people would use cocaine if they didn’t have to find a dealer to buy it? If they didn’t have to worry about being caught by the gardai?

Obviously a lot of people. While teenagers are obviously intrigued by these head shops, they are not the people who will be sustaining their businesses. It is adults with disposable income who will be the life-blood of these shops.

Adults looking for a bit of an escape without the worry of getting caught are taking advantage of this loop-hole in the law and using these unregulated, untested, unknown products without, it seems, worrying about the consequences.

While the government obviously needs to get their act together and pass some laws in this area, as a society we need to ask ourselves why these shops are flourishing and take responsibility for using these products and giving the younger members of society a bad example.

2010
01/28
CATEGORY
News
Wexford
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