Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will start again.

Last week, Deputy Eugene Murphy and other Deputies raised the situation regarding Cuisle, a respite holiday centre in Roscommon run by the Irish Wheelchair Association and funded by the HSE. Under the programme for Government, there are significant commitments to respite services. The issue is a shortage of funding of €1.2 million required for refurbishment for fire safety compliance at the centre. More importantly, it is a facility which provides serious and good respite care for people with disabilities. Given that there is a paucity of such services and that respite has been curtailed continuously over a period, I ask the Government to engage with the Irish Wheelchair Association to provide the necessary capital funding that could be found to ensure the service continues. There are 48 people employed at the centre and it has been doing good work for a long time.

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