Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I hope the Minister will follow up on my issue, which I have previously raised with the Taoiseach and concerns St. Rita's respite care centre in Tipperary. It is a fabulous centre that does excellent work with young people with special and additional needs. It does not have enough funding to provide extra summer camps and young boys and girls have been refused places, to the anguish of their parents and those at St. Rita's. The people in the centre want to embrace and help children and their families, but they do not have the funding to do so. I would appreciate it if the Minister could follow up on this with the Minister for Health. As I said, it is a wonderful respite centre and young children are being denied respite services for the summer due to a lack of funding. I do not know if it is not being spread out or not getting to them but the centre needs funding for additional hours to engage with the people. The summer camps only run for a week, but it is a help.

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