Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Murnane O'Connor for raising this important issue. The Deputy has long advocated a new building for the Holy Angels day care centre and her commitment to seeing progress on this project deserves to be acknowledged, as does the work the staff at Holy Angels do for children with disabilities. As can be seen in the programme for Government, we are committed to improving the lives of children with disabilities through further developing services and supports, particularly early access to assessment and intervention. This provides children with the best start in life, enabling them to reach their full potential.

In my role as Minister for State with responsibility for disabilities, I want to be open and transparent with Deputies on all issues raised with me, as well as my plans to improve and strengthen these areas. It is not just Deputies that deserve this degree of openness, but also people using disability services themselves. People deserve honesty, not waffle.

As Deputies are aware the area of disabilities is moving from the Department of Health to the newly reconfigured Department of Children and Youth Affairs. It will take time for this to happen. My hope is that once complete, this move will ensure a greater focus on disabilities. Instead of the sector being swamped by other issues in the Department of Health, this move will allow for clear pathways to be developed to ensure progress on capital projects like the Holy Angels day care centre, the reduction of waiting lists and access to disability services.

The Deputy raised the issue of a building for the Holy Angels centre with the then Minister of State, Finian McGrath, last December. Having looked at the file, I do not want to rehash information the Deputy already knows, which is of no real benefit either to the Deputy or to the children and staff of Holy Angels. As the Deputy will recall, following the meeting between the head of disability services and the board of management of Holy Angels in October 2019, a further meeting was to take place in March 2020. That meeting was put on hold because of the Covid-19 pandemic. A new meeting has been scheduled for 4 September. The head of disability services will meet with the board of management. This will take place in line with all Covid-19 guidelines. I can confirm that on the floor of the House tonight. The follow-up meeting which was arranged with the then Minister of State will take place on 4 September.

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