The Irish Wheelchair Association has said its day centre services in Co Cavan could be closed for a "number of months" due to staff shortages.
The service closed its doors last week and changed to an "outreach only model".
The 36 service users who would have attended the day centre once a fortnight, are now receiving home visits instead.
Those service users have a range of physical, sensory and intellectual disabilities.
The IWA said it was forced to do this because of staffing levels and that outreach is the "only viable option" for service delivery.
CEO of the Irish Wheelchair Association Anne Marie O'Grady said the centre hit an "acute situation" where it lost a number of team members and the centre "dropped to below safe minimum staffing levels".
The organisation provides disability services on behalf of the State and is classified as a Section 39 agency.
It said that ongoing recruitment and retention challenges within the healthcare sector, along with ongoing pay disparity between Section 39 and equivalent workers within the HSE have led to the situation.
Ms O'Grady said that this was not just a Cavan issue, but a national and a sector-wide issue.
"Over the last four years, we've had 13 recruitment campaigns. We've lost 12 staff here over that period.
"Six of them have actually gone to the HSE. We've been offering flexible contracts, we've [been] doing everything in our control to attract and retain staff.
"In the national context, health and social care is very hard to recruit into. It's an employees' market," she said.
Ms O'Grady also said recruiting into rural areas such as Cavan was also a challenge.
She said that pay parity within the sector needs to be addressed by the Government and would form part of the solution to staffing challenges.
Late last year, an 8% phased pay increase for Section 39 workers was agreed following discussions at the Workplace Relations Commission.
The IWA is now calling for the Government to engage in further talks to bridge the remaining gap between Section 39 workers and their counterparts who work in the public sector.
"Since then, there has been a new pay deal and therefore there is an even larger pay gap to be addressed. We urge parties to urgently get back into those talks. Fundamentally, if we don't have the staff, we can't provide the services," said Ms O'Grady.
The IWA said it has a recruitment process ongoing for Cavan which would most likely take a "number of months" to complete.
Ms O'Grady said other factors could speed up the return, but the IWA cannot say how long the outreach programme will continue in the meantime.
"Our commitment is, once we reach safe staffing levels, we will get as many services back as soon as possible," she said.
Louise Cahill, IWA Service Manager for Cavan and Meath said the day centre service was "vital" for the people who used it.
"People come in, they might just socialise with their friends, have a chat and a cup of tea. We also do individualised work, supporting people with their goals, from opening a bank account to doing a parachute jump," she said.
"We do group activities, gardening, arts, and if some are interested in seeking employment, we help them with that too."
The Cavan Day Service also provided an independence lifeline for many service users, as it had a bus service to transport people from their homes to the centre, and also to medical appointments and day trips.
"That is a vital part of the service. Access to transport in rural communities in Cavan is very limited," she said.
Ms Cahill said the service has been reducing since Covid, with clients going from attending two days a week, to one day a week, to one day every two weeks most recently.
She said the outreach model was very successful during Covid times, with a combination of home visits, phone calls and zoom meetings.
"Unfortunately, we're trying to be fair to everyone. We're trying to do as much as we can, but we are very limited in our staff. We'd love nothing more than to have the place back up and running."
Attending the day service in Cavan an 'outlet'
Merilyn Morton, aged 31, has described her disappointment at the disruption to services. Merilyn has been attending IWA Cavan for nine years.
She was born with a visual impairment, and now has 0% vision in her left eye, and 5-10% sight in her right eye.
She describes attending the day service as an "outlet" for her.
"Due to the disability I have, I can't drive, nor will I ever drive. The bus comes out and picks us up. It's a great level of independence for me. It encourages us to take part in activities we wouldn't have, meet people and go places we wouldn't have done otherwise.
"I'm quite a shy and reserved person naturally. For me to get in with a group of people I get comfortable around, it brought me out of my shell," she said.
"It's so disappointing. We're going back now to how things were during Covid. Nobody wants to go back there. I miss seeing my friends every week, the activities we take part in. It's something to go out and do, and have a bit of independence," she said.
Merilyn said she thinks she speaks for a lot of people when she says it's disappointing, but she hopes things will get sorted out quickly.
The IWA is working with the HSE on a local and national level to try to resolve the issue.
The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth said it is aware of the staffing issues at IWA Cavan and that a recruitment campaign has been undertaken.
It said it acknowledges the essential role provided by the staff in organisations who provide services to some of the most vulnerable people in society and that their ability to pay staff is largely dependent on state funding.
The Department said an additional €41m has been made available to the HSE this year following the WRC agreement reached last October, in order to meet the full year cost of the 8% phased increase for disability service providers.
It said that the Department also committed to further talks after future public sector agreements.
"The recently ratified public sector deal opens the door to such further engagement and the WRC has written to relevant parties with a view to reconvening talks next month," it said.
HSE Community Healthcare Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Monaghan and Sligo Disability Services said it is supporting the IWA in addressing its current staffing levels and that a series of meetings have taken place since 19 March, the most recent taking place on Thursday.
HSE CH CDLMS Disability Services continue to work with IWA Cavan to assist the provider to get its Cavan day services returned to optimal delivery for all attendees.
