Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome yesterday's announcement that a new project is going ahead at a cost of €90 million to provide accommodation for over 3,000 office staff in Cork. It is the second development in a very small area. When this project has been completed, over 5,000 people will be working in the city. This shows the confidence the developers have in growth levels in Cork. It is possible that EU agencies currently based in the UK might come to Ireland. I suggest that the focus should not necessarily be on Dublin. Everything possible must be done to bring any EU agency that is currently located in England to Ireland. Locations outside Dublin must be considered in that context. Cork is getting ready to face up to and meet the challenge presented by any new agency. We need to focus on locations outside Dublin.

I spoke earlier this week about the availability of respite care in respect of people with disabilities over the age of 18. I recently met a parent who told me that the respite care which was available to them when their son was under the age of 18 is no longer available now that he has reached that age. Long-term planning is needed in the disability sector. A significant number of people with disabilities are being cared for by parents who are ageing. In many cases, other family members will not be available to provide care and assistance after the parents have passed away. Many parents are worried about the long-term care of their sons and daughters. We need to have a debate in here on this matter. I am calling for such a debate because we need to start planning for this whole area. We need to put a comprehensive plan in place. We need to assess what kinds of numbers we are talking about. At this stage, we do not seem to know where we will be going over the next ten years.It would be proper to debate the matter with the Minister in attendance.