Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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I can see that Ability West has great services across the county in places like Mountbellew, Headford, Tuam or wherever you go. Ability West has a good name for delivering services. I am sure every other organisation has the same thing. If there is smoke coming out of the back of the engine, where are we going? Do we need to replace the engine? We need to do something with it. That is a fundamental we need to get right as a committee. We can talk for Ireland, but how are we going to solve some of the problems?

When we talk about respite services, it is very hard to find overnight respite services. I have had cases where people have had to attend a funeral. There was a case of a couple who needed to go to a funeral and could not go because they could not get overnight respite for their family member. Only one of them could go to the funeral in England. We have had that kind of stuff. I am sure it is being repeated all over the place. We talk about rights-based and quality of service. I think the fundamentals have to be right.

I know that, in County Galway, because of its geographical layout, transport is a huge problem. Trying to get people connected and get people in is something that will not be solved overnight. If the pay issue were solved, would that bring us on a step to getting all these policies and aspirations in place? Would it help provide a secure service and secure the service we are providing? At the moment, we are hitting along on a bumpy road with it.