A range of day care and respite services for older people and adults with a disability will continue to operate in Keadue under a new arrangement reached between the Department of Social Protection, Pobal and the Roscommon Leader Partnership.
Under the new agreement, Roscommon Leader Partnership will assume the management of the programme and will continue to provide meals on wheels, day care activities and transport to the elderly and adults with a disability. Heretofore, these services had been provided by St Asicus.
In addition to the activities formerly provided by St Asicus, further services including a laundry facility will now be available. It is expected that the new operation will commence from Monday 18th April. It will operate from St Ronan’s Community Centre, Keadue.
Pobal Executive Director, Paul Skinnader said: “Pobal would like to thank all those who have worked so hard in recent weeks to ensure that a new service is now in a position to operate. We are extremely grateful to the Roscommon Leader Partnership who have agreed to take over management of the service.
“Roscommon Leadership Partnership has a strong track record of delivering local services for local people and Pobal is confident that they will continue to do this in their new role. We appreciate that this has been a difficult time for service users and we thank them for their patience and understanding.
“We believe that services for the elderly and adults with a disability in North Roscommon are now on a sound footing and service users can look forward to excellent care.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Social Protection said: “The Department of Social Protection is pleased to be able to provide the necessary funding to ensure the long term future of these vital services for older people and adults with a disability in the North Roscommon region.
The funding has been provided by the Department of Social Protection under the Community Service Programme. This initiative provides grants to community businesses that deliver services and create employment for people from disadvantaged groups.
Denis Naughten TD, who initally broke the news last night, has welcomed the news adding “This has been a very anxious time for older people and I’m glad that after a lot of work behind the scenes the new service will be operational as soon as possible. I want to personally thank all of those who have worked so hard over the last number of weeks to secure this service for older people in North Roscommon.”
Independent TD for Roscommon-Galway Michael Fitzmaurice said “I am delighted that a great service has been safeguarded at St Ronan’s Hall in Keadue and that senior citizens over a wide area will continue to avail of a this social service. I welcome the decision of POBAL to continue its support to the area and I look forward to Roscommon Leader making a success of this project into the future.”