Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I am sorry to say I also have a big long list. I will try to run through it. I have met with the Minister of State a number of times about the Rainbow Club in Cork. Obviously, I am here this evening to speak to her about that. It is a charity that does amazing work. At the last count, some 1,300 children were availing of its services every week. It does all of this for the grand sum of €50,000 and with just one employee. There are equivalents across the country, which I will not list here, that receive multiples of that figure. In some cases, these charities receive six- and seven-figure sums while dealing with a far smaller population. I need to highlight the work of the Rainbow Club and the positive impact it has in Cork. The Minister of State was on site with me. It was over a year ago at this stage. We thought we had a new home for the Rainbow Club. At least eight or nine months on from that visit, there is still no resolution. In the last couple of months, the Rainbow Club has tried to negotiate with the HSE with a view to offering some kind of respite arrangement. A couple of months of work went into that but, unfortunately, it yielded nothing. I would appreciate any update the Minister of State can give on those two issues. More to the point, what is her Department's vision for working with the likes of the Rainbow Club in delivering much-needed services for children? That is my first question.