Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The reopening of the country has been widely welcomed by businesses. I wish every business that is open all the very best. We should support them all. There are day care centres from Donegal to Tipperary, where there are several, that have tremendous voluntary boards of management, workers and volunteers. People, especially older people, have missed those centres. They have missed the acts who perform at those centres, the likes of Stefan Grace and others, who entertain them free of charge. It is part and parcel of those people's lives and they need to get back to sharing with their friends. They have lost many of those friends, unfortunately, and some of them have regressed terribly because of having no interaction with other people. They used to have social days that included music, song, dance, a meal and access to chiropody, hairdressing or whatever. Can the Taoiseach give us a date for the reopening of the wonderful day care centres throughout the country? They are desperately badly needed from the point of view of our people who are isolated. Buses bring people into the day centres, giving them a day out. They are not residential facilities, they only provide day care. They do an excellent job and are quite safe. I am talking about senior citizens.

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