Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

First, I thank all the staff in the House for their dedication and commitment to their jobs and the assistance they give to each one of us throughout the year. I have a question on the role of access officers in local authorities. Today is 21 July 2015. Seven years ago a family, who have contacted me in the past 12 months, received a letter from Cork City Council advising them that work would be done on their house to accommodate their daughter who has both an intellectual and a physical disability. Today is the seventh anniversary of the letter and not one piece of work has been done to the house. The child is now 20 and I have referred the matter to the Ombudsman as it is a disgrace. On the one hand we talk about disabilities but on the other we have no joined-up thinking on how we co-ordinate services for them. The local authority is passing the buck. The Disability Act 2005 set out that each local authority must have an access officer to deal with these issues but many do not have an officer in place and are in breach of the Act. It is a matter we need to discuss when we come back after the break. It can no longer go on like this. We have been passed from one department to another with no one taking responsibility. I have a number of these cases and have referred them to the Ombudsman and it is important that this House send a clear message to everyone involved that we need to provide services and back-up support. If this person was in State care it would be costing us €2,500 a week. We have a mother and father who are committed to looking after this child and to providing the services for her but the State is not giving them the support they require. I ask the Leader to put this matter on the agenda for when we return.