James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for being in the Chamber today to take this important motion.

The issue of funding St. Christopher's Services is my highest priority and close to my heart. My mother, Mrs. Marcella Bannon, was on the founding committee 50 years ago. She was the first treasurer of the association and she spent her lifetime fund-raising for St. Christopher's. I have spent the past 35 years attending AGMs and supporting the services at St. Christopher's. It is my duty to keep telling the Government how important the services of St. Christopher's are to the hundreds of families in the midlands who use the services.

To understand how important this issue is, one need look no further than Friday last when 4,000, or 12% of the population of County Longford, marched through Longford town to protest about the issue. I was proud to walk alongside the service users, parents and staff on Friday last. After taking up this issue with the Taoiseach and the Minister on several occasions, I am again raising this serious matter on the floor of the Dáil.

Since 2007, St. Christopher's has absorbed €800,000 in cuts. Despite these cuts, it has managed to provide additional services and continue to provide top-class care for their service users. The management and staff should be applauded for being able to achieve this when the purse strings were so tight. The current financial deficit is projected to rise to €470,000 by the end of the year. This deficit has arisen due to the need to increase staffing levels to meet the needs and care requirements of service users. These service users are a group of elderly patients, eight in Morlea House and six in Marion Avenue, Ballymahon. It is my firm belief that the HSE is not recognising the changing needs of this elderly group of service users in these two locations. If we cannot offer proper care to the elderly, we must look at ourselves as a Government and a nation.

I am concerned that the Minister does not understand, or perhaps the HSE does not understand or accept, the gravity of the situation. If this situation is not resolved, we run the risk of the HSE tendering out the services St. Christopher's for profit. I do not want to see this happen. The staff and service users of St. Christopher's, and the people of Longford, do not want to see this happen.

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