Ms Martina Queally:

To reference a previous point made by the CEO, our ambition is to be as flexible as possible. Respite is a huge pillar of support for families in term of their caring requirements. We look at centre-based, in-home, home-to-home family support, Saturday clubs, summer camps and after-school clubs. Through talking to families in my own region I know that is what they want. They like that flexibility. That is what supports them most. In 2024, the HSE exceeded the national service plan target on both day and overnight respite services. That said, we need more. We have funding for in-house respite and we are developing respite houses in all six regions. While we were waiting for those developments we offered very flexible models around after-school family support etc. That has proved really successful. I would like to see my own team, in my own region, continue that flexibility with families based on the child and family needs. Unfortunately, the demand, particularly for residential placement, sometimes means some of our respite beds get blocked. Sometimes that is in order to try and deal with an emerging situation.

I am glad to say that our teams are very much getting ahead of the curve in terms of understanding and predicting demand in order that we have fewer emergency places. That is where we want to get to, that we have much more planned placements. Respite is a huge pillar of support for families. The feedback we receive on that is very positive.