Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am sure it is exaggerated a bit, but they are telling me they have serious problems. We had the nursing people in here. Is that improving? For example, St. Joseph's in Shankill is a dementia centre and there was a fundraiser for it at the weekend. Again, really good work is done there, but they are finding it very hard to keep nurses.

Finally, two separate sets of four parents who have adult sons and daughters in the 40s and 50s have come to my constituency office recently. These parents are getting older and they are very worried. They are looking after their children, who have a disability, at the moment, but they are very worried about what will happen in the future. These adults are able to live independently with a little support. They are all on the housing list in Dún Laoghaire and the parents feel that, for example, they could come together and live independently in one home. At the moment, the HSE in Bray is saying it has no money for this, but could we look at a policy in the future whereby accommodation for people with disabilities does not always have to be residential, in a home. Some people can live independently, but they need supports from the HSE and the local authority. Instead of giving four houses, in this case, they would be funding one house.