Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I am glad that the restriction due to the particular needs of the one person he refers to has been lifted and that the service has now returned to normal capacity. Normal capacity is under capacity and that is the bottom line. When the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, met a delegation, along with me, he conceded that there is currently a deficit for respite services for persons with a disability in the Cavan-Monaghan area. Many of those parents across the area, as well as siblings, are very undemanding people. They are understanding that there may, at times, be a cancellation due to a crisis arising for some other family. Far too often, in the past few years, cancellations have been a regular feature in the delivery of the service. It is not acceptable and the people who speak to me are people who understand that services will not be as good as we would all like them to be. They only demand a very basic level of service.

The Minister of State quite rightly refers, as the HSE indicated in written correspondence too, to the growing demand. As people leave the children's services and become young adults, an increasing number of people need these services. Parents, by definition, get older. Many parents ring me or come to see me at the weekend who are really worried about the long-term facilities and services that will be available for their loved one. There is no reason, as a society or a country, we should not provide a basic, decent level of service, which is critical for many vulnerable people. I ask the Minister of State to bring back to his colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, the urgent need to ensure that additional investment is put in place in the Cavan-Monaghan disability services and that we have a reasonable service. Nobody is looking for an extravagant service. We are looking for a very basic service. The hard-working, decent people I speak to, who give so much love, care and attention to their family on a 24-hour basis demand very little. The least we could do as a society and an Oireachtas is provide a decent level of respite services for those people.

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