Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)

We have had opportunities to raise the issue on numerous occasions but unfortunately we have not received any answers. I wish to raise the closure of the respite house in Clonile in Limerick, which is attached to Bawnmore, the Brothers of Charity service for adults with an intellectual disability in Limerick. That house closed more than three weeks ago leaving no respite service for adults with intellectual disability in the mid-west region.

I will not repeat all of the things I have said on the matter in various ways in priority questions and in the other ways in which I have raised the matter in the House. I want answers on behalf of the families that are affected and those who can get no break now. Even when people need to go to hospital they have nowhere for their loved one to go. We need the answers tonight and before we go on holidays. Those people will not be able to go on holidays this year if they do not get an answer.

I accept discussions have taken place with the HSE and the Brothers of Charity involving the Minister of State, Deputy John Moloney, and the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Mary Harney. We do not know what happened in those talks. We do not know what was said and what commitments were given. We do not know whether there is an agreement or if the house will reopen. We are talking about the most vulnerable families and people in our communities. In the case of the mid-west, 63 families are affected. Cutbacks have also been made to a variety of facilities. It is a retrograde step for persons who have left residential centres to live in the community to return to residential care. We are going backwards. My main concern is when the respite house will reopen. I want an answer to that question. When will it be available for the families that need it?

Many Members attended the protest today and met with people who are directly affected, as we have done on previous occasions. Those people literally have nowhere else to go. I do not want to hear again about talks and about the fact that the Brothers of Charity in the mid-west have €25 million for the provision of services. That is not an adequate answer. I am focused on the families who are affected. They need an answer. They do not need to be told that talks are ongoing. They simply need someone to get their finger out and to make a decision. If the Minister of State, Deputy John Moloney, has to order them to open it then he should do that. That house must reopen. We must be told when it is reopening before the House rises tomorrow.

See this speech in context