Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Last Thursday, Louise Byrne of "Prime Time" reported on a group home in Carrickmacross in County Monaghan, which was built for people with physical and sensory disabilities by the Respond Housing Association for the HSE and completed in 2017. Today it lies empty with no residents, staff or management and no plan to open its doors. It is a €1.5 million project that is desperately needed by families, particularly by elderly parents who want to see their adult children living in the group home. We saw 37 year-old Romy Ward, who is one of these people who needs the service. Her parents, Brían and Sheila, told of their heartache and their battle with the HSE since 1997 to have this facility put in place. However, almost three years since the completion of the new building, the doors remain closed, the gates are locked and the most vulnerable who need this service are left without it. The excuse the HSE has given is that after building this brand new, state-of-the-art facility, there is no money to run the service or open its doors. How is that for planning?

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