Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I also offer my sympathies to Dr. Martin O'Donnell's wife, Veronica, to his daughters and sons and to Deputy Kieran O'Donnell.

In 1968, Dr. Martin O'Donnell was one of the co-founders of the St. Joseph's Foundation in Charleville. Today I heard many stories of him going from house to house looking for funding to open a place for people to go. The first place they went was the parochial house in Charleville. I have been involved with St. Joseph's for many years and I was one of the people who helped them get Liskennett Farm in Granagh. It has an equestrian centre for people to come to and was built in a forest of 80 acres. It is absolutely fantastic. What St. Joseph's Foundation have stood for in our area is huge.

St. Joseph's has a lot of houses throughout the country, in counties Cork, Kerry and Limerick. What they do is unbelievable but they need supports and funding to go forward. Everything has now changed for them. People who could previously go to the likes of Liskennett in Granagh cannot go there now because of the restrictions. Before the pandemic, some of them could travel there in a bus but now they cannot. They have small minibuses with six or eight seats and they cannot do this with social distancing. It is heartbreaking because it is an absolutely fantastic facility, run by fantastic people. One group we have got to look out for in all this is the volunteers. Dr. Martin O'Donnell was one of the co-founders of the St. Joseph's Foundation in 1968. These people volunteering their time and effort.

More than 1,250 carers in Ireland are over the age of 70, with 400 aged over 80. Capacity in day services has lessened due to social distancing, which impacts centre-based day services. People with disabilities were identified as high risk by NPHET. Services responded extremely quickly and kept the numbers extremely low but this meant restricting day services and providing support in residential settings. The National Federation of Voluntary Service Providers said it is now providing 40% of pre-Covid care. Most people are getting between two and three days of day services per week. Due to the fact that capacity in day services has lessened to meet the regulations, it is not possible to accommodate the pre-Covid numbers in centre-based day services. How many people using disability services are prevented from working because of an underlying condition? We have seen people working in shops and in the restaurant in St. Joseph's Foundation. Everyone is working together like a community. However, because of their underlying conditions they no longer have that service and they cannot go out and meet other people. What is there for them? They have not been able to work and there is no alternative in place for them. This is very difficult for them and their families.

I will conclude by mentioning Dromcollogher and District Respite Centre. It comes under the same regulation as nursing homes. It has been in contact with the Minister of State. It needs to be open, it needs funding and it needs to expand so it can cater for people in need of respite. It has even converted an office to make extra room for respite care. Again however, many volunteers are raising funds for this and we need the Minister of State's help. I wish Deputy Michael Moynihan very well as committee Chairman. I know he and the Minster of State will do their best to help and that their hearts are in the right place.

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