Cuts force Brothers ‘to make 100 redundant’

Date Published: 10-Aug-2010

The Brothers of Charity in Galway will be forced to make at least 100 frontline staff redundant next year if the HSE West implements cost-cutting measures contained in the Mott McDonald report.

The secret report was commissioned by the HSE to outline cost-containment measures that would help to recoup a massive budget deficit which is expected to exceed €107m by the end of the year.

Among the controversial cuts mooted by the report is the “further reduction in grants to voluntary organisations”, the funding of which has already been slashed by €6m under current cost-containment plans.

The continued existence of the Brothers of Charity is under threat from the latest wave of cuts and the organisation faces the prospect of reducing its frontline staff by 100 next year, according to a parent representative on its board and spokesperson for the group Hope 4 Disability.

“I have been informed that the implementation of €4m-worth of cost-savings would result in 100 redundancies from the Brothers of Charity,” said Eamon Walsh. “It would be totally decimated.”

There are currently 830 people employed by the Brothers of Charity in Galway, supplemented by around 110 volunteers who assist with non-specialised work within the organisation. They offer a range of services to more than 1,000 people who have an intellectual disability and their families.