Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Aontaím leis an Taoiseach i dtaca lena fhocail comhbhróin faoi bhás Dolores O'Riordan. Tá ár smaointí lena teaghlach agus a cairde ag an am brónach seo.

On the questions put by the leader of Fianna Fáil, perhaps Deputy Micheál Martin will support Sinn Féin's Private Members' motion this evening on the trolley crisis.

I return to the issue of the absence of adequate respite care services for children living with a disability. The Taoiseach has often said he welcomes constructive proposals from the Opposition. On 6 December last year, when I put to him a modest, costed proposal to increase respite care services, he committed to examine it. I also sent him a detailed copy of my proposal in writing, but he has yet to respond to me. One week after I made my proposal, the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Finian McGrath, announced that he had secured an additional €10 million for respite care services. As I told the Taoiseach many times, there are no emergency services and only a limited number of respite care beds in my constituency of Louth. While the Minister of State's announcement was presented in part as an urgent response to this issue, it has since emerged that the additional funding is grossly inadequate and a task force to examine the matter has not yet met. In most cases, this involves citizens in a family setting. However, it has emerged that children with a disability who are in the care of the State are being denied respite care facilities.

An investigation by the Ombudsman for Children, Dr. Niall Muldoon, has found that the State has been denying the necessary supports to a woman who has been fostering for 14 years Molly, a teenager with Down's syndrome and severe autism. Molly's carer accused the Health Service Executive and Tusla of abandoning her and leaving her financially, emotionally and physically drained. The Ombudsman for Children found the HSE had abdicated its responsibility to Molly's foster mother by refusing to fund respite care for her. As I am sure the Taoiseach knows, this has caused horrific stress. The report of the Ombudsman for Children is damning. It found that the State's actions had a negative effect on Molly who did not have the opportunity to reach her full potential and that the actions of the State were contrary to fair and sound practice. There are 472 children, including Molly, with disabilities in the care of the State. Among his recommendations, the Ombudsman for Children calls for a respite care action plan for children with a disability in the care of the State and the community at large. While these recommendations have been accepted by the HSE and Tusla, the former has pointed out that its commitment in this area is ultimately resource dependent, in other words, it is now over to the Taoiseach.

This is not another shameful, historical episode of neglect or ill treatment of children in the care of the State. It is occurring now and we will not be able to blame anybody else if it continues because it is taking place on our watch. Does the Taoiseach accept that the report is damning? Does he accept its recommendations and will he provide the resources needed?

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