Mary Ann O'Brien (Independent) | Oireachtas source

She cannot defend herself because she cannot speak. Her family, however, can speak and have spoken at length to me. She cannot talk and is totally dependent on her carers. She is doubly incontinent and her seizures are life threatening. Her blood pressure drops to dangerously low levels and she needs to be near a hospital. However, the bungalow, which is in Nurney, is 45 minutes away from Naas General Hospital, the closest source of oxygen. She is not under nursing care but is looked after by carers. She lived with her family until 14 months ago. Her family is great - her Mammy, Daddy and three fantastic siblings have all helped to care for her. She is now 17, a year away from being an adult in the eyes of the State. She is a beautiful lady but only weighs 65 kilograms. Her family reached the stage where they needed respite and the HSE took Cliona to assess her and placed her in a private nursing facility. She never had a single injury while being cared for by her family but has had four injuries in the past 14 months. She broke her toe and while she had trouble walking before that, she can barely walk at all now. She strained ligaments in her ankle. She fell the other day and injured her neck. She fell against a radiator in the corridor outside her room which is unsafe. She split her lip and was taken to Naas General Hospital but was deemed not to need plastic surgery. She is disfigured for life. I am not, by the way, making any allegations here. I will leave that to the Minister of State's imagination.

Imagine being Cliona's mother. She is very beautiful - I have a picture of her here. Her mother was promised that a male would never be in charge of Cliona. She needs her nappy changed in the middle of the night and care throughout the night. We have found out that three times a male carer was left in charge of this young lady. How does the Minister of State feel about that? Her mother is terrified and appalled. Her mum and dad visit her regularly although her placement is a 120 km round-trip from her home. The only quality of life for this young lady is seeing her family, whom she adores. She recognises them, loves them and they are the only thing she has. She left her little cuddly toy behind in the car one day and her parents drove 15 minutes back to the lovely bungalow where she lives, her room done up by her mum. The carers had the kitchen door shut and were drinking tea while their little girl was unsupervised. Need I say any more?

This evening I spoke to her sister, who is a doctor, and she said she had serious concerns about Cliona's welfare and safety. The HSE officer responsible for the Leinster region - I will not give her name - is, I believe, engaging in a form of abuse against the family. It is not just the child about whom we are talking but five adults in Templeogue who are broken people. The child had to be moved from Crumlin because she was becoming an adult and on 9 July the consultant at St James's Hospital said that, in his opinion, her current living circumstances needed to be reviewed from a safety perspective, as she was living with a very serious medical condition in a social model of care without nursing care. He stated she needed nursing care and needed to be moved. It is only by raising the issue here that I have forced the HSE to attend a meeting with the consultant next week.

I could go on, but this cases mirrors what we saw on television last night and I am just one person dealing with one local in my area. I need the Minister to intervene personally and do something for this family before Christmas, preferably tomorrow.