Mary Ann O'Brien (Independent) | Oireachtas source

That information is of great use to me, and I thank the Minister for her detailed and informative reply. I hope everything that she has said is correct. I raised the issue because of the unfortunate case of a family who had a baby in need of palliative care. They found that the system has changed, that registration in hospital is no longer possible and that they needed to go to the births, marriages and deaths office to do that. As the Minister explained, only one parent in a recognised marriage needs to attend but both parents need to go if they are unmarried. I was contacted because the parents were not able to visit the office of the registrar. As the Minister will be aware, anyone who has a seriously ill child are beyond being able to organise themselves. I welcome her comments and I will take her reply back to my constituents. I will communicate with the relevant Ministers if I find that her information is not correct. The Minister mentioned that an exception can made for someone with an extremely ill child and the application can be processed without the PPS, and that is they key matter.

I also thank the Minister for her comforting words - I was not expecting that - on children's palliative care services. However, the reality is that the Jack and Jill Foundation's services have been cut, and people are not getting the HSE support for nursing their children in their homes because the money is simply not there. The provision of such services may be down on paper, but it is not happening in reality, but that is a matter for another evening's discussion.