Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I take the point with regard to equine services and other services. Some of the service providers were able to access facilities heretofore whereby they were able to take families away for weekends or for two or three nights and build equine and other services around people. One of the service providers is developing a project whereby it has acquired extra land and wants to develop some of its existing buildings so that families can come for two, three or four nights. These are families that may not be able to access holidays together because of the challenges with care needs or behaviour. These organisations want to build on what they were able to get on the open market heretofore. They have not been able to do so in the past two or three years. They want to build so that families can come for two or three nights.

Many campuses have built up a large number of facilities over the years, such as hydrotherapy pools, running tracks and various facilities. They close from 5 p.m. on Friday until 9 a.m. on Monday. We have these facilities already built and paid for through philanthropy or State funding. Places that have facilities for alternative respite should be used for families who, unfortunately, are not able to avail of any break during the summer or other times of the year. This needs to be supported in a major way through the Department and the State.