Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The trouble with the Minister of State's response is that it makes no allowance whatsoever for the resident who is unable to relocate. I am pleading with the Minister of State on behalf of parents, aunts, uncles, brothers and sisters of the people who are resident in this wonderful location. One of the most upsetting things that the Minister of State has said is that he wants to take the residents out of that place, that home and integrate them into the community but the community they are already in is a community in itself. It is a wonderful, beautiful setting where an awful lot, if not the majority, of the residents are happy, safe and content and they want to be left there. There are people in St. Mary of the Angels today who would be unable to integrate into any other place and it would be unacceptable to their families to try to do so. They are safe, happy and content and are getting excellent care from excellent care providers.

I urge the Minister of State to think of my late father, who always said, "If it's not broken, don't try to fix it." St. Mary of the Angels is not broken. I urge the Minister of State not to try to fix it because it is not the proper thing to do.

See this speech in context