Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I welcome the witnesses. To participate in community life, the best place for a person with a disability to live is at home with their family and carers. With that, it creates another issue. For it to work, there has to be adequate respite. That is a huge problem in my county and it is obviously a problem in many other counties. We have two units in Kerry: one in Listowel, which is a four-bedroom unit, and one in Cahersiveen, which has two beds. It is actually a four-bedroom unit in Cahersiveen but only two beds are open, and they are not even open seven days a week. That is an issue as well.

I have met the parents numerous times. They are really at their wits end. Many of them have not had a break in five, six or seven months. That is not good enough. It is bordering on criminal.