Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have raised the issue of respite services for children in counties Cavan and Monaghan on several occasions. It is the most frustrating issue I have to deal with. My frustration is nothing compared to that of the families affected by the systemic failure to provide their children with the respite services they need. On 15 February, I had a debate with the Minister of State with responsibility for disabilities. In that debate I highlighted the fact there were no respite services for children in County Monaghan and that services in Cavan were extremely limited and operate only every second week. They are oversubscribed and the admission policy discriminates against children in my constituency who could not get the respite care they would if they lived elsewhere.

I raised the case of one family whose son has complicated disabilities and profound behavioural and other issues. The family is going through an horrendous time. The child's father has been hospitalised since last year and will need long-term care. The mother is trying to hold all of these strings together. If she unravels, the whole family will unravel. The family desperately needs respite care.

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, for her proactive engagement with me on this case but the child still has not received the respite care that he needs. The statement of purpose has been changed in Cavan but this child has still not been offered respite care. Efforts to secure a place in County Louth have not materialised. The family is now trying to source a service in County Kildare. They live at the top end of north County Monaghan. The very fact the family is contemplating this just shows the desperation involved. It is not good enough. It is a shameful indictment of our services for children with disabilities and every Government that has allowed it to get to this point.

This child's father will be released from hospital on 16 June needing full-time care. I cannot, and I hope the Minister of State will not, tolerate a situation where this mother is expected to care for two people on a full-time basis with no support at all from the people who are paid to help her.

I commend Deputy Tully on tabling the motion but I demand, as we all do, that it is actually acted upon for this family, and all families with children with disabilities, who deserve much better than they are currently receiving from the HSE and the Government.

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