Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I will not turn this into a political issue. It is too sensitive. It was actually quite upsetting last night. I spent hours talking to people. I could have spent weeks talking to them. They are being let down. The families are run off their feet. Every one of the service users have regressed. The progress they have made has stopped. In many cases they now have new issues. I looked at the Minister's statement last night. In fairness, Ailbhe Conneely, on RTÉ's "Morning Ireland", told a very good story on it. The Minister of State's statement was too bland. She is delighted that services will begin in August. There is no plan in most cases to begin any services in August. I will tell the Tánaiste why that is the case. In order to do that they will need more staff. The staff that have gone to residential care will have to come back to day services. We will need many more staff. We will also need a capital budget to change the buildings, purchase new buildings or take over new buildings in order to adhere to social distancing requirements. I am asking the Tánaiste if we will get dates by 20 July for the thousands of families that are affected. Is there a capital budget in place to change all the buildings to make them fit for purpose to provide these services? Where will the Tánaiste get all the staff to ensure these services can commence again? Will those who are working in residential services be brought back in to provide the day care services?

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