Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. Ba bhreá liom tréaslú leis na Seanadóirí Mary Ann O'Brien and Jillian van Turnhout as ucht an méid atá ráite acu. Chuala mé an díospóireacht ón tús. Bhí mé tógtha go mór le cé chomh praiticiúil is a bhí an méid a dúirt siad. Is léir nach ceist acmhainne atá anseo. Is ceist bainistiú acmhainne atá anseo. Is trua mór é nach bhfuil sé de shamhlaíocht ag an Rialtas breathnú ar an gceist i gcomhthéacs bainistíochta, seachas acmhainní.

I wanted to welcome the Minister of State to the House but she is leaving. We are speaking as one Minister of State has resigned - I presume on principle - because of her disquiet at the way certain decisions are being taken or the lack of communication. This is exactly the kind of issue that should prompt those kinds of consideration. The Government has clearly been deaf today, despite a really eloquent and touching case being presented - I mean that in no patronising sense - by Senators Mary Ann O'Brien and van Turnhout. They speak with different areas of expertise and a deep knowledge and experience of the subject at hand. All we have got from the Government is some blasé promise of a meeting. It is as if we are speaking about some much less important topic than the care of children with life-limiting conditions.

Only last year a report launched jointly by the Children's Sunshine Home and the Irish Hospice Foundation indicated that, in 11 counties, respite care is not available to all families of children with life-limiting conditions. The report at the time was based on information from the HSE in Dublin mid Leinster and Dublin north-east and indicated that only limited respite services were provided. Access depended on such factors as a child's age, the nature of the diagnosis, the prognosis and the child's home location.

The importance of respite services has been recognised by the Department of Health, which launched a new national policy for children's palliative care in March 2010. What is the point of policy documents if there is not even enough imagination to consider problems that are not, as has been noted, fundamentally about extra resources but rather the management of existing resources? One wonders about the commitment to human dignity that allows such an unthinking response as we heard today. It was mentioned in the Seanad that there are certain motions that simply should be unopposed, and this is one of them. I am very disappointed at the easpa samhlaíochta, or lack of imagination, from the Government.

I am grateful to Senator Mary Ann O'Brien and others for their interest in jointly hosting a briefing on a related but separate matter some months ago, which dealt with families which received a diagnosis of a fatal foetal abnormality. On that occasion we heard about the importance of perinatal hospice care, and there is a commitment from the Government that we will have a debate on this in due course. Similar issues arise whenever we speak of real stories of young children who, as Senator Mary Ann O'Brien noted, cannot really be expected to make it to out-of-home respite or preschool care when they are simply not well enough. It is quite clear that the context for care should be in the home.

Great credit is due to the Jack and Jill Children's Foundation for all the work it has done. It is sad to think that as a child approaches age four, it can be a point of fear for parents that the State is not in a position or willing to do the needful in terms of ongoing care. The case has been made clearly about how much financial sense this makes. It is a remarkable figure that it is eight or nine times less expensive to provide home care than to provide care in a hospital. Senator Mary Ann O'Brien mentioned what a relatively small sum of money is at issue, with ¤15 million being sufficient. I am sure it is possible, despite the constrained circumstances, to examine our expenditure and ask whether we should prioritise our resources in such a fashion in order that children with life-limiting conditions can be put closer to the top.

I will not go on any further as the case has been made by the Independent Senators on the Government side of the House better than I could ever possibly make it. I commend them for doing so. I ask the Government to rethink its position, even at this stage, rather than fobbing people off with promises of meetings. It should take the proposal seriously and consider the issue with fresh and compassionate eyes and with appropriate prioritisation.