Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy O'Dowd for tabling this question. I thank the Minister for his interaction on this particular issue. The Minister said there is sometimes a cliff edge in respect of adult disability services. That is the piece that needs to be fixed. We all know the working conditions and the payments these PAs are getting are insufficient. A number of them who have contacted Deputies have left that work. These are people who are committed to facilitating people with disabilities. It is vital we conduct the assessment of the needs required to ensure we can give people decent pay and conditions. Fórsa is talking about a possible school secretaries-type solution.

The ETB IR meeting is on 15 December. I am told the Minister's Department is looking for a meeting with Fórsa on the week of 12 December. I ask that that meeting takes place as quickly as possible, followed by a meeting with the PAs. I ask him to come back with that timeline. The PAs are also somewhat worried there will be a change at Cabinet level that could impact on this.

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