Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

That is simply not acceptable. I ask the Minister of State to put herself in the shoes of the parents or the staff. She talked about helping the children to find suitable alternative placements if no accommodation can be found. No one knows where those placements are. The staff do not know if there will be jobs for them after September. She previously said that one strand of the sustainability funding that can be accessed through the Department can support the services with the cost of relocation. I welcome that there is at last some sort of intervention by the Government, but it is not good enough for Raphoe Community Playgroup to be left in the limbo it has been. It still does not know whether there is a funding stream and we are now almost in the month of June.

The playgroup has found a place in Raphoe to which some of the children could possibly be relocated on a temporary basis, but it has to be approved by Tusla. The latter still has not happened. As of now, weeks from the date when the building will be deemed to no longer be safe, parents do not know if they will have somewhere safe to send their children. Staff do not know whether they will have jobs or whether they will be able to pay their mortgages. That is simply not good enough. The fact is that the town of Raphoe wants its designated permanent playgroup building that residents raised money to build. There is no guarantee that the funding will be available for that either. Rightly, they will not settle for anything less and I support them in that.

In previous correspondence with me, the Minister of State suggested the possible relocation of children and she said that again today. This should not be acceptable. Children and parents should be able to stay in their own communities, in a community that fundraised for the building. The relocation of children to where? I repeat, we are now almost in June and we still do not know. Parents and staff have been left in limbo. Will the staff have jobs in June? Can the Minister of State guarantee that will be the case? Can she provide clarity for those who are worried?

Going forward, the Government will have to think about the impact defective blocks are having on similar services in the county and make sure we are better prepared. It was notified of this issue two years ago. We are days away from the deadline when the building will be condemned. Children do not know where they will be going. Parents do not know where the children will go. Tusla has not approved the alternative accommodation. The staff do not know whether they will have jobs or whether these children will be scattered to the four winds to different places that might be located miles away. It is not acceptable. This happened because of light-touch regulation on the part of the Government. We still do not have a plan weeks out from a decision on the building being made. I am really disheartened by the Minister of State's response. We need better from the Government.

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