John Brassil (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the indication that the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, will meet us. Deputy Ferris and I have requested that meeting. I am sure that Deputies Michael Healy-Rae, Danny Healy-Rae and Griffin have as well. After the previous meeting, we committed to the parents to raise this issue in the Dáil - thankfully, it has been taken as a Topical Issue - and to try to arrange a further meeting. Some of the issues are practical ones. For example, if the timeframe was moved back by six, nine or 12 months, there would be scope to make the transition easier.

Funding will always be an issue. More funding is needed, but when one is recruiting staff for a position that has been approved, the days of ringing someone and asking whether he or she is free to do the job are gone. Now, recruitment has to go through the proper channels, including advertisements and interviews. This can take months. The timeframe that we are allowing ourselves is not enough. We need to be practical on that front.

During the upcoming meeting with the Minister of State, we will also raise the issue of respite for parents, a service that is at a low level, and the need for a practice nurse in the school to help administer drugs and feed some of the children who have life-limiting conditions and need percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy, PEG, feeding, etc. The school needs a full-time nurse.

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