New jobs for Edenderry as specialist autism facility opens

Fifteen jobs in the nursing and social care sector will come onstream in Edenderry next month with the opening of a much welcomed specialist residential and day care facility for young people living with high functioning autism. Welcoming the news yesterday secretary of Laois Offaly Families for Autism (LOFFA) Edel Shaw said it's fabulous news that such residential services are being made available as at that end of the spectrum such facilities are "thin on the ground". Enquiries for both potential clients and employees are welcome at Nua Healthcare in Naas in advance of the facility opening according to CEO Edward Dunne. The new facility, close to Edenderry golf course, is currently under construction. When completed it will provide an assessment centre as well as a residential service for up to four young people and a day care facility for up to eight. It will include an acre and a half of secure garden. Nua Healthcare was formed in 2004 and its Offaly facility is its first foray out of Laois and Kildare, where it has 14 facilities. Mr Dunne said the company intends to follow up the Edenderry facility with more investment in Offaly. "Typically we have three or four facilities per day care facility," he said. "This enables us to create an operational base in Offaly." He said he envisages his company will open three or four residential facilities across Offaly over the next year, representing an investment in excess of one million euro. This comes as great news to Ms Shaw, who is the mother of an eight year old boy with autism. The only residential respite available to her at the moment is Charleville Cottags in Tullamore, but currently she said "there's a waiting list for the waiting list". Calling on the HSE for financial support, she said her only concern regarding the new facilities planned for Offaly is that Nua Healthcare is a private, profit-making company. "In most cases costs for this is prohibitive for a family unless funding is provided," she said. "Really we need a commitment from the local HSE that families in need of this care for their son or their daughter could get it."