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

Hopefully, people can learn in an insightful way from how the commemorations have been planned and developed.

The protocol division does not have a role regarding the Sisters of Charity. What is happening in this regard is unacceptable, however. We are in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic but, overall, this points to a need, over time, for the State to review fundamentally how we provide services, particularly for those with special needs and adults with disabilities, and how we can secure and give certainty and guarantees to people in settings such as this one. This is an historical legacy. Down through the decades and since before the formation of the State, religious organisations provided a variety of services. Increasingly, that is coming under strain. In more modern times, both lay and religious organisations in this area have been termed section 38 and section 39 organisations. That will not be satisfactory in the future.

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For special needs education, such services can refuse to accept primary school children or open new places in their schools for a variety of reasons. That limits the State's capacity to help children who urgently need places. A more State-centred approach is going to be required in the future to provide places, particularly for those with special needs and disabilities. That will take some time and, in the interim, it seems to me that certainty has to be secured from existing providers regarding such services because the type of situation the Deputy outlined creates enormous difficulties for residents and workers. Legally, the State has limited entitlement to intervene and stop what is happening but, that said, I will talk again to the HSE and Paul Reid about this matter to see what can be done.

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