Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The reason I have brought this issue in here is because 16 parents came into my clinic on Monday looking for help. I did not raise the issue; they did. What they want from the Tánaiste is an assurance that these cuts will be reversed - if it is necessary to lift the public sector recruitment embargo in order to provide the services as they have been, that he should do that - and for him to state here clearly and publicly that he will provide the resources and staff to maintain the Angel's Quest Respite Service for 140 families and their children.

If the Tánaiste does not do that, it makes a mockery of all the Government's talk of reform of the health services and all of his talk of commitment to protecting children's rights in the forthcoming referendum. What good is a commitment to children's rights and to protecting children if the Government is slashing the services to the most vulnerable children and their families in the State?

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