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

Deputy Barry also raised the 66 children living in appalling conditions at a halting site. That must come to an end. All parties to this must agree to the decisions the council takes on this. All parties to this must agree to the various proposals that have been put forward in the past and we now need cohesion and unity of approach to get this issue properly resolved, from a human rights perspective but also just for the basic well-being of the children and families concerned. The initiatives in response to this must be agreed to and brought through because it is not at all acceptable that there be this level of deprivation and lack of access to basic living conditions. There is also a very strong health and safety dimension to this which causes me great concern. We have had very tragic circumstances in the past in respect of loss of life at halting sites where health and safety was just not what it should have been. There is an imperative here to get this issue sorted once and for all because neither children nor anyone else should be residing in circumstances that are so poor for quality of life, but also for health and safety. That is very important.

By the way, I must tell the Deputy there is no ruling group on Cork City Council. Deputy Barry served on the council himself before he became a TD and is well aware of the issue. This is an issue we can all agree should be dealt with.

Deputy McDonald raised the issue of the Oireachtas disability database group. Again, when I was last in government, there was a comprehensive intellectual disability database which provided very good information which informed Government decisions and the allocation of resources. This was likewise the case for physical and sensory disabilities. That was developing at the time and seems to have weakened over the years. We need more proper data to inform the provision of services. We must also look at how services are provided into the future. This should be from both the health and educational aspects, particularly for people with disabilities and children with special needs.

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