Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the mayor of Ennis, Clare Colleran Molloy; Councillors Paul Murphy and Mary Howard; Carmel Kirby and all the Ennis 2040 team; and especially the students who have come here today from Coláiste Muire and St. Flannan’s College in Ennis to spell out their vision for Ennis 2040. It is a sad irony that, on a day when so many young people from Ennis have come to Dublin, a 44-year-old woman, the same age as the Taoiseach - still a young age - named Jennifer Hynes is languishing and wallowing in Mowlam nursing home in Ennis. She has been there since 2019. She is a fish out of water, to use her own words. She is a very smart woman. A few years ago, she came second in an international writing festival for people with disabilities. A nursing home is the wrong environment for her. She dreams of a future where she has her own house and personal assistance hours that allow her to live a fulfilled life in an age-appropriate environment.

This is in the programme for Government. The Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, has been immensely engaging and very supportive, but I want to spotlight Jennifer Hynes’s case. She is watching today from her bed in Mowlam nursing home and I hope the Government can give her some hope there is a bright future for her.

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