Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Go raibh maith agat. I think WALK will be happy with the contribution and the commitments that have been given. There is an urgency about this.

One of the facilities, which has seven beds, is not available at the moment because WALK could not wait. It has seven places available and the other seven places may come back in the near future. As I said, WALK could not wait on the HSE to take that up.

The cost of living needs to be addressed by a higher allocation per resident than is currently the case. The allocation needs to meet the costs of section 38 and 39 organisations. We know of other areas as well. The State must consider this matter, especially given that the private sector can get more. If we pay the same rate across the board, many of these organisations will be able to do much more and Mr. Bourke, others on the board and the staff will not have to deal with this issue, which distracts them from their work. It is an important issue and needs to be put right, given that we have seen what happens when the funding is not right. If an organisation has worries about a deficit hanging over it, it gets distracted.

We must ensure that we plan for the future as regards the unmet needs the Minister of State mentioned. Where organisations are looking to help the State, families and individuals, we need to harness that. A great deal of work has been done, but this is an instance where there either seems to have been a miscommunication or a stay is being applied. People are worried that this shortfall will affect the rest of the services they are providing. This is not their only service, as they have many more.

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