Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for being here and for responding to the issue. When we embarked on the course of adapting the working day of the Dáil to include Topical Issues, very strong commitments were given that we would have the responsible Ministers here. I commend the Minister of State on the job he has done in the Department of Health but I have listened for many years to very strong statements being made by the Minister, Deputy Reilly, about palliative care and services for children in need in particular. Nothing in the report and the response given today would give me or any of the hundreds of parents across the country reason to be confident that the Government will be in a position to deliver the required services. I am talking about the critical respite area, which allows parents who are caring for children 24 hours a day, seven days a week, some opportunity to take time out or recharge their batteries before returning to the loving task of caring for a child who will not see adulthood.

The moneys involved and identified in the report are substantial but there is no indication, either from the Minister of State or in the report provided to him, that the Government is prepared to provide any additional funding. We have all engaged with organisations such as LauraLynn and, in particular, the Jack and Jill Foundation, and we know they are absolutely cash-starved. Mr. Jonathan Irwin is in his seventies and is currently quite ill but he is a pioneer, stepping into the role of the State in providing services that would not otherwise be provided for hundreds of children around the country. It behoves all of us in this House to move mountains to ensure that the funding necessary to support these families is found somewhere in an urgent fashion.

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