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

That is great. The Minister of State has provided me an answer tonight that, as she said, by the end of this week it will be formally done. After those many years, that is most welcome. I know that people listening in this evening will be delighted to hear that.

As I said, the response is most welcome. Now that the Minister of State has delivered the news, I would like to see Cork City Council, as she referenced in her response, proceed as expeditiously as possible to get that public consultation under way. There will be a public consultation process, which is understandable.

I will set out the case for the Rainbow Club, as that is why we initially visited that site, as outlined by the Minister of State. It is an organisation she and I hold in high esteem and have visited on a number of occasions. The Rainbow Club's ability to attract staff in the current climate is particularly admirable. It is something we could all learn from in terms of service provision and provision of therapies. Its ability to recruit and provide those services and therapies would put others to shame. I know the Minister of State is also committed to reversing the trend and is pushing for the reintroduction of therapists into special schools. That would also be most welcome but, in the interim, a facility such as the Rainbow Club could provide genuine expansion of service provision in the wider Cork area. As she said, it is not just people from the Cork city area who use the Rainbow Club. I know people who are travelling from counties Kerry and Tipperary at least once or twice a week to avail of its services. Its reach is far and wide.

I reiterate my gratitude to the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, in addition to an Tánaiste, who has been involved in this project for an awfully long time, and the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath, as the building and the facility is in their constituency, although its reach extends much more broadly than that. I ask the Minister of State to maintain the interest she has had in this facility up to now. I know she will get us to a point where we will see that building being refurbished and, most importantly, used. As I said, the most important thing is that will now possibly provide a future for the Rainbow Club or whatever other organisation will go into that building. I again thank the Minister of State for her response.

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