Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

When I last raised this issue, it was on Leaders' Questions, which the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Bruton, was taking that day. I raised the case of Jacob Dooley, whose mother and father were in a desperate situation. As often happens in such circumstances, they had to turn to the media just to get some movement on their son's case.

I asked specifically about the number of hours provided compared with the number of hours requested. My clear understanding is that the latter far outstrips the former. The Minister, Deputy Harris, cited the figure of 182,506 overnights as representing some sort of progress, but we see the truth in our clinics and here. People have protested outside Leinster House about the unmet need on more than one occasion. Has anything been done to quantify it and, if so, will the Minister share the figures with us? I believe that there is a large amount of unmet need.

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