Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for coming here this morning. I would like to start locally with Purple House Cancer Support in Bray. It is an incredible cancer support service that the Minister for Health and I know well. It supports families and cancer survivors all over Wicklow and in south Dublin. It has to leave the premises it is in on an extremely urgent basis. It has found a fantastic premises that will allow it to expand its services and it looked for €650,000 from the State with a view to doing matched funding. After conversations with the Minister, staff from Purple House Cancer Support have told me that figure came down to about €400,000. They told me they met the Minister twice and he made promises around that amount of money. They then said the amount promised dropped from about €350,000 to €400,000 down to €150,000 and that yesterday they got a letter which one of the Minister's team took them through. That letter made no reference to any amount of money, it said there would be no money in 2019 and that they could apply for capital funding in 2020 but that would be considered in the round with a lot of other applications. This is what the staff in Purple House Cancer Support have said to me. I know the Minister and I both support this service. Will the Minister deliver on the promise of around €350,000 to €400,000? If not, can the Minister tell me why the staff in Purple House Cancer Support believe that promise was made by him?