Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Covid-19 has been particularly difficult for people with children with autism or disabilities. I have been contacted by people whose family members are affected by autism, although we are very lucky in Carlow that we have great facilities. There is the Delta Centre and the Holy Angels Day Care Centre and we are very lucky with our services there. I welcome the €100 million allocated for services and the additional €20 million for improving them. In regard to funding, will staffing be a big issue? Respite was one of the biggest issues for families that faced all Deputies during Covid. Some family members found it difficult to cope because their loved ones were not in their normal routine which is a part of life. The problem was that the family members themselves did not get a break. Even though services have returned, many of them are offering only three or four hours a day and are not back full time. In Tullow in County Carlow, there is a lovely respite centre and we were promised two years ago that there would be overnight respite there. I have been contacted by many families who are seeking overnight respite for their children following the lifting of level 5 restrictions. I understand we have to be very careful in our behaviour at the moment, but will the Minister of State examine whether we can get overnight respite at the centre?

Staffing will be the biggest issue going forward. While it is great to see all this money, we still have to get staff and doing so will be challenging. The Minister of State might revert to me on that matter. Bus services are another big issue. Again, I understand this is no one's fault and we are in a different time because of Covid. Nevertheless, I have been contacted by people who do not own cars and who use the various bus services. They have found it very difficult because they have not been able to get their children on a bus. This funding is so important but it is about how it can be accessed. The Minister and the Minister of State are so determined that they will get the matter right, but for my area - I can speak only for my area - a structure needs to be put in place. Having spoken to people who have approached me, I think the HSE needs to work with the Departments on guidelines and information for the parents. We need to try to find out what is happening, when it is happening, how services can be accessed and what families can do. All of us working together need to play a part in this. Everyone's life has been touched. We are exceptionally lucky in Carlow and people travel for a half an hour to access our services because there are such great services, but the problem now is that everything has been shut down.

In summary, do our guests expect staff to be an issue? What will happen to the bus services? Can we provide greater overnight respite besides getting children back to their normal routine of going to their everyday services? I reiterate that Covid-19 has a significant part to play.