Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to take the Minister and Minister of State through the serious crisis in services for children with disabilities in Donegal. I think they are fully aware of them. More than a year ago, Special Needs Parents Network Donegal, which represents more than 900 parents of children with disabilities, published a survey about the real impact of the longest waiting lists in the entire State for physiotherapists, occupational therapists, psychologists and speech and language therapists. None of this is being provided and assessments are not being done. It is a serious crisis. A forum was established with the HSE, the parents' representatives and the public representatives in the county. It met once a month, then every three months, and now we have learned it is being stood down without any consultation with public representatives. That is outrageous. We were looking for accountability and updates on recruitment. The parents told their stories. Indeed, they passed around photographs of their children to get a human sense of who these children were and the impact on their lives. The forum was stood down.

Then there are organisations like iCare and Bluestack Special Needs Foundation that have been around for more than 20 years, with one in the north of the county and one in the south, providing services to significant numbers of children and their parents. Those organisations, until recent years, had to raise all the money themselves. There are huge fund-raising efforts that are ongoing to this day. They ask for basic core funding. They have approximately €36,000 each. They will fold unless they get appropriate funding. This has been brought to the Minister's attention but the HSE, working with the Minister, has provided no solutions. Our disability services for children are in crisis across Donegal. We had a forum established to hold the HSE and the Government to account and it has been stood down. Will the Minister please ensure it is re-established as soon as possible and that we get answers and solutions on respite care and services for children with disabilities?

See this speech in context