The National Parents and Families Association of St John of God has welcomed the funding agreement between St John of God Community Services and the Health Service Executive.
An agreement was reached earlier between St John of God Community Services (SJOGCS) and the HSE, enabling the service to continue in operation.
The Board of St John of God Community Services has confirmed the withdrawal of its decision to transfer services, which had been issued to the HSE on 16 February.
The decision to withdraw the notice has been endorsed by the Board of St John of God Hospitaller Services Group.
However, it has called for "full transparency" on costs agreed between the two organisations, to resolve remaining uncertainty.
In a statement, the representative body said news of the transfer "devastated and alarmed" the thousands of people with intellectual disabilities and mental health problems who it represents.
The association described people with intellectual disabilities and their families as "the neglected citizens of Ireland with report after report documenting how they continue to be disadvantaged despite promises and policies".
It commended St John of God Community Services and the HSE for completing a Sustainable Impact Assessment (SIA); which was conducted in recent years, to establish the costs required to run the service.
The National Parents and Families Association has called for publication of the SIA as a matter of urgency.
"It is now essential that this agreement results in adequate and long-term funding for high quality services in line with international best practice and that the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Department of Health allocate the required funding urgently," it said.
The group added that it must be multi-annual (with allocations for at least five years) to offer certainty.
"This must include funding for essential staff in relation to residential, day services, therapies, transport and respite care as well as adequate capital funding. The Disability Capacity Review Action Plan must also be implemented without further delay," it said.
Today's announcement comes on the back of "intensive discussions between" both parties over the past ten days.
There is an agreement and timeframe to arrive at a time-bound implementation plan for the Sustainability Impact Assessment Report.
A statement from St John of God said there is a commitment to the in-year funding for 2024, and there is a guaranteed timeframe within which final decisions will be made about the issues arising from the historical deficit in SJOGCS.
Management at SJOGCS has been informing those in receipt of services, their families and staff that St John of God Community Services will continue to deliver its full range of services at all existing locations.
Chief Executive, Clare Dempsey, has described it as a welcome development.
"This agreement represents a positive outcome for all parties and is certainly in the best interests of the 8,000 people to whom we provide intellectual disability and mental health services around the country," she said.
Ms Dempsey added: "The feedback and messages of support from families and staff asked that we do all in our power to retain the service, and we are therefore very happy to be making today’s announcement. I know it will be a matter of relief to many thousands of people."
She said the talks process with the HSE had "brought many difficult issues to the table" in recent weeks.
"I believe we have emerged from this process with a broader level of understanding of each other’s positions and a new more partnership-oriented approach towards addressing the underlying problems that both we and indeed our sector faces, and that from here we can hopefully advance the wider agenda for all in a more positive manner."
Ms Dempsey paid tribute to Board members and the Group Board while "also recognising" the contribution of the HSE and its Chief Executive, Bernard Gloster, in bringing the process to a successful point of conclusion.
"There is much work yet to be done in putting the various elements of our new implementation plan into action, but I am confident it can be achieved," she said.
HSE CEO Bernard Gloster said he was pleased "to have arrived at a satisfactory solution that will enable SJOGCS to continue deliver important care to the 8,000 children and adults using their services".
He added: "I know that this resolution will be a great relief to those who avail of these services, their families, and the staff who provide them at over 300 centres around the country.
"I also want to acknowledge the support of Minister O’Gorman, Minister Rabbitte and colleagues at the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth."
Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O'Gorman and Minister of State for Disabilities Anne Rabbitte welcomed the agreement.
In a joint statement, they said the HSE had "worked intensively with St John of God Community Services over several years to address financial and operational challenges in its services".
They said in recent weeks the HSE had "reaffirmed a strong financial commitment" to supporting the organisation in delivering services.
Minister O'Gorman and Minister Rabbitte also noted that a Sustainability Impact Assessment process had provided a pathway to "sustainable high quality services" that meet service user needs.
They said that the HSE, backed by relevant Departments, remained committed to "following through" on the outcome of the process and funding is available "to meet in-year requirements, enhance services and support related reforms".
Ms Rabbitte, said: "The collective commitment of the HSE and St John of God Community Services to meeting the needs of service users has resulted in this positive outcome and I am confident of continued progress in addressing core issues over the coming months."
Mr O'Gorman commended both sides on reaching a resolution "which all parties agree is in the best interests of service users".
He acknowledged the delivery by St John of God Community Services, like other providers, of publicly funded services.
"We know that some organisations are in a weakened financial state as a result of complex historical arrangements, compounded by current and emerging service delivery costs and pressures.
"My Department is working to deliver innovative solutions to these systemic sustainability challenges, through continued engagement with the HSE, service providers, their staff and service users," he said.
Minister of State with responsibility for mental health and older people, Mary Butler also welcomed today's announcement from the HSE and SJOGCS.
Minister Butler said the resolution will remove uncertainty for service users and their families and is the outcome the Government had hoped for.
"St John of God Community Services provide essential, high quality mental health services to thousands of children and adults, supported by over 300 dedicated staff, and the withdrawal of the notice of transfer of services will be a relief to all.
"As Minister I want to acknowledge that there are growing demands on our mental health services, and both St John of God Community Services and the HSE have striven to maintain services, with the service user at the core of all considerations throughout this process," she said.
