Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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I have been raising issues of the lack of services for children with disabilities in County Monaghan since I was elected to this House and, in fact, beforehand. Disability services over my county are sorely lacking. Even the service elected representatives receive is often lacking as well.

There are two issues that I have raised with the Minister of State consistently that I want to put on the record of this House again. The first is in respect of respite services for children with disabilities in County Monaghan, which do not exist. Children in the county have to go onto the waiting list for the services in County Cavan, which themselves only operate every second week for children. The latest figures I have indicate that 33 children receive respite care in Cavan, all of whom are seeking additional hours that they need. There are a further 57 children on waiting lists for respite services and I know of others who have not even applied because they know the service is not available even though it is needed.

Second, there is a need for a special school in County Monaghan. There is a special school in County Cavan but again, there are children in County Monaghan, and I am sure in County Cavan as well, who cannot get access to it because it is full. Earlier this week, I heard the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, speaking on the radio about respite services. I want her to spell out precisely what the plan is for respite services. I heard her mention that the HSE is looking for a building to build or buy, or whatever the case may be. Will the Minister of State outline how much is in the budget this year to provide respite services? These are the same disability services that left a brand new building vacant for years in my home town of Carrickmacross after it had been built. There was a lack of forward planning.

Virtually a year ago, on 17 February 2023, I raised one particular tragic case of a family that are in desperate need of respite services. In fairness to the Minister of State, she was very empathetic and sympathetic and agreed there and then to meet the mother involved. This is a mother who has a child with profound additional needs and all sorts of other things going on. In fairness, the Minister of State held that meeting and there was a senior member of the disability services present. She will remember there was an issue in terms of policy with regard to the services in Cavan. After a number of months, that policy was changed. On successive, countless occasions since then, I have interacted through parliamentary questions with both the Minister of State and the disability services. On 25 September, for example, I got a response from the disability services indicating that, having considered this child's individual needs and in consultation with the child's mother, a plan had been devised to provide day respite hours initially and to gradually increase the duration of the child's visits. The length of these visits would be decided during upcoming meetings with the child's mother and the child. Once they became familiar and comfortable with the respite service at Annalee centre, overnight stays would be introduced. They are essentially blaming the child if they do not get respite care. That was from September 2023. Since then I have made references to the case here in the Dáil. I could not believe it when I spoke to the child's mother at the beginning of this year and she told me that the child still does not have overnight respite. It is a scandal.

I spoke to the Minister of State and, in fairness, she was amenable and answered the call. She told me that within 24 hours, the head of disability services would be in touch with me. I have still not been contacted. How am I supposed to provide representation to a family when we have senior officials that treat elected representatives like that? How can we trust that those officials are treating the families with the respect and dignity they deserve if they are treating us, who have this public platform, in this way? That mother was forced to go onto "Liveline" and local radio to outline the family's case. I ask the Minister of State to tell me when that child is going to have overnight respite care.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for tabling this Topical Issue matter this evening and giving me the opportunity to discuss it on the floor of the Dáil. He quite rightly outlined that he has raised this specific case with me over the last 12 months. Not only that but he and his colleagues in Cavan-Monaghan have continuously raised the issue of the lack of respite services in County Monaghan and the fact that children have to leave the county and share the service on a week on, week off basis with the neighbouring county, with adults one week and children another week.

My script does not reflect what the Deputy has outlined. When the matter was tabled it referred to children's services and the officials automatically assumed that meant everything to do with children's disability network teams, CDNTs. There is no word of respite in the statement I have. I can answer the Deputy's question, however, because I understand it and have been involved in the matter, which relates to the lack of services in an area where children have to leave and share services on a week on, week off basis. I have raised that with disability services. The way community healthcare organisation, CHO, 1 is divvied out, we have Donegal, Sligo-Leitrim and Cavan-Monaghan. That is how the area has always been looked at. It has never been looked at on a county-by-county basis or within the old catchment areas. The Deputy quite rightly said that children have to leave the county and that there are not sufficient or adequate services for them.

The Deputy's first and very clear question was what money I have in the purse. I have enough money in the purse to fund a seven over seven, which is a four- or five-bedroom house that can accommodate four or five children and is compatible, on a seven-night basis, for staffing. It would not be fair for me to indicate the amount of funding I have but it is enough to do that. That equates to approximately 75 children who can be facilitated. I said yesterday on a radio show that the way this needs to be done is through two front doors - a front door for children who have a mild to moderate disability, are compatible and can be with each other. Children who have sensory needs cannot share that space. We do not want a scenario where the service does not function for everybody else. That is where the second front door can operate. I have seen the two front door model used successfully and continuously in Council Clare, for example.

Edel has made a submission to the national office that it go through HSE estates. I am reluctant to deal with HSE estates, to be honest, because the process takes so long. If there was a section 39 provider already providing services in the area, it would be the ideal candidate to say it is able to provide or open to providing the service. It could purchase a property quicker than going through HSE estates. I am not being alarmist, but that process can take four years.

If you purchase a particular house through a section 39 organisation, it can be operationalised very quickly because it will recruit the staff. It is also important to say that there is not an embargo on staffing in disability services. We are slow at the moment in getting that message out there, but there is not an embargo. There is funding available for the Deputy's county. That has been totally laid bare. I wrote down the names of all the people I have met at this stage. I have met Senators Diarmuid Wilson, Robbie Gallagher and Joe O'Reilly, the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys, and Deputies Matt Carthy, Niamh Smyth and Brendan Smith. I have met every one of them, and every one of them outlined the need for it, so this is not wasted. As for the lady I met in my office, I can only but apologise for the fact that she is only getting what I would call introductory hours. The reason we use that sort of language is that if a child does not transition comfortably, then they might not want or be able to put their head on a pillow at night. It is unfortunate that it has taken six months for that to progress, to be honest.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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It is even longer than six months.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I know that.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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This particular case is just unacceptable, and heads need to be smacked together. We raised the issue in February and I think it was March when we had the meeting. It took a number of months to get them to change an archaic policy which was unique in respect of the fact that this child was being denied services essentially because of a word on a page. In between times, nothing was being done in terms of even preparing for that. Then the policy was changed. The response I read to the Minister of State is from September. We are now at the end of January 2024. I cannot remember the first time I raised this young man's case in parliamentary questions, but it has to be verging on two years ago at this stage. Therefore, it is important we say that it is not a way to treat human beings, and especially children with disabilities and their families who are at their wits' end.

To be quite frank, if the service in Cavan was good enough there probably would not be the strong demand that there rightfully is in terms of looking for the service in Monaghan. The Cavan service is not good enough. The reason we know that is that everybody who is availing of it needs more hours. There are adults and young adults who cannot get respite because they are basically sharing the alternative weeks. It is not good enough and it is not acceptable. I will not be accepting it anymore. We cannot have the situation continue where we are dealing with parents and running round the houses. Officials are saying they will sort it out when the Minister of State is in the room, and then they do not sort it out.

I ask the Minister of State to comment on the demand for a special school in Monaghan, because clearly there is a demand there for that as well. They are the two demands that are raised with me all the time. I want to raise this particular issue and I ask for the Minister of State's assurance that the child in question is going to be sorted out with overnight respite hours quickly.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy is quite right to say that when we sort out the children's services, there will be adequate services for the adults or the younger adults. One house will be left for adult respite services and we will have a children's respite facility. The capital plan is being launched in the next two or three weeks. Cavan is in the capital plan because of the advocacy that has gone on. We will await its publication to see that through.

On special schools, the Deputy knows as well as I do that I do not have the remit for special schools at all. However, I would advocate that there is a serious need for a special school in the area. That was borne out by the health officials who met with us that day. They were clearly able to tell us that there was such a demand to access special schools, and that children were travelling unbelievable distances on buses to access services. To be honest, it is little wonder that Carrickmacross-----

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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It is Castleblayney.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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----or Castleblayney provides phenomenal after-school services. They have been part and parcel of where the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has looked in expanding the access and inclusion model. They are also the reason we have included the alternative respite piece in the budget, whereby children can be facilitated after school as opposed to having to do an overnight. We have that in Castleblayney. They are models and we need to have a suite of measures available when it comes to respite. Children need to be supported outside of term time. They need to be supported in the evenings and in Saturday clubs. That is the whole package for families to feel supported. I will speak to Edel to make sure she speaks to the Deputy.