Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for allowing me a few minutes to speak. Of all the Ministers I have interaction with on a daily basis in Leinster House, I can say with confidence that the two Ministers of State present are among the most compassionate and understanding of their briefs. This needs to be recognised. It will not be lost on me that they do incredible work.

This day last week the chief executive of the HSE, Mr. Bernard Gloster, was apologising for the pressure being experienced in accessing respite care in Cork. We all have instances and stories of families in desperate situations with regard to access to respite. Recently a Cork-based family was offered a respite place for their child in County Meath. To be fair to the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, she stated in the House last week that the HSE and service providers should use agency staff to reopen the ten closed respite beds in Cork and that money was not an issue. She very politely told them to get on with their job. Subsequent to the intervention of the Minister of State, the HSE stated no agency staff were available to do as she suggested. This was followed by apologies and excuses from various stakeholders as to why this could not be done and why respite beds could not be reinstated.

Of the approximately 20 respite beds available in Cork, only half are available and staffed fully. To make matters worse, the families of a certain cohort of 48 children attending Caroline Community Special School, which is under ETB patronage, were told unequivocally that this limited number of beds is unavailable to them, pitting special school against special school and patron against patron.

I know the Minister of State is a person who cares about these children and these families. I know she has been working steadfastly behind the scenes in recent days and that she has met the various stakeholders involved. I also understand she is going to meet the chief executive of the HSE tomorrow. With all due respect, I do not think the families want any more apologies from the HSE or excuse after excuse from service providers. They want their children to be treated with dignity and respect. They do not want to have to go on local radio or appear in newspapers to fight for services they should rightly have. I know it is not a specific issue but will the Minister of State give clarity on the progress in CHO 4 when she replies to the debate?

See this speech in context