Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not disagree with anything the Deputies have said. Every Deputy will have encountered the parents of children who face personal difficulties in life. The disability sector is one of those areas that every Deputy deals with regularly. On a one-to-one basis, many parents privately tell us that a major concern for them is the question of who will look after their children when they are gone. The safety net of this transitional arrangement is available through these services. The HSE acknowledges in the reply that I read out that the services are not ideal and there are deficits. Unfortunately, we do not have as much money for them as we would like. We are trying to perform a loaves and fishes operation. We have made progress in recent years, but we would love to do more.

As Deputies Brassil and Ferris suggested, if logistical and practical elements can be changed on the ground through dialogue without requiring a pile of money or, indeed, any additional money, that can be thrashed out with the Minister of State.

I have some knowledge of this area because I know a great deal of the west Limerick terrain, and the next closest town to Glin, Athea, Mountcollins and Abbeyfeale is Listowel. No less than is the case with other service providers, there is considerable affinity with the work that the Nano Nagle school does in my part of the world.

This is an emotive and sensitive issue. I welcome the fact that the Deputies have raised it in the House in a constructive manner. The Department involved is not mine, so the only commitment that I can make on foot of what they have said is to ask my office at the earliest possible opportunity to arrange for a meeting between them and the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, officials from his Department and the relevant people from the Kerry area with a view to determining whether, as Deputy Brassil suggested, a practical approach can be taken.

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