David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his response and for his commitment to bring my views and the views of the people in the area, which are quite strong and quite worried, back to the Minister of State, Deputy Butler. This is in no way an attack on the HSE, the Minister of State, the Department or anyone else. We want to come up with a proper solution. That is why I am asking that this be paused. I am told that some of the residents have been advised that they may have to go into Cork city, Kanturk or Sarsfield Court, which is miles away. At the moment they are in a comfortable area. They are familiar with their surroundings, they can go down town and into the shops and pubs or the local church, which is very close by. People know them, greet them and make them feel welcome. They are integrated into the community. That is going to be ripped out now and that is not good enough at this stage.

The engagement about which the Minister of State spoke only started this week. That is a very short amount of time and people have been concerned all through the summer. I understand there is no immediate danger in the building whatsoever so that is why I am saying we should pause this and engage. There are some older people who I understand may be happy to go to nursing homes at this stage. That may be so but each of these people has to be engaged with, and have their families present if they so wish, and we have to respect their wishes in that regard to see what can be done here.

The other issue is that the overall service for the residents, the respite care, which was not mentioned in the Minister of State's briefing, and the day service will all be lost to a vast area. East Cork is the size of some small counties, going from Youghal right up to Cork city and beyond, and north of that as well. That will all be completely lost and there are no plans that I can see to replace those services at a time when we are all concerned about the impact of mental health, the growth of the challenges people face because of Covid and other concerns and the constant negative news we are getting through the media all the time that the world is doomed and we are all going to hell in a handcart. This is having a big impact on people. We need to do better. I again implore the Minister of State, and the HSE and others if they are listening, to pause this for a while. Let us get together and talk about it and let us do better.

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