Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise a matter relating to Annalee Respite Care Centre in Cootehill, County Cavan. This time last year, Annalee Respite Care Centre was forced to close its doors because of an oil leak in the building. As a result, for 12 months there have been no respite facilities for families in Monaghan and Cavan. The situation is causing great hardship for many families in both counties. The issue shines a light on the chronic lack of childcare facilities available to families in Monaghan and Cavan and it highlights the chronic need for a separate facility for children.Ideally, we should have a childcare facility for adults and a separate facility for children.

We all know that being a carer is a tough, 24-7 and 52 weeks of the year job. These people are totally dedicated to the people they look after and many times it is at the expense of their own health and well-being. Surely it is not too much to ask of society that these family carers are given a short break, a chance to carers to recharge their batteries and a bit of time to themselves. Families in counties Cavan and Monaghan deserve that right as much as those in any other part of the country.

As I said, the ordinary man on the street would find it difficult to understand why a simple oil leak in a building has not been rectified after 12 months. Why is it taking so long to put the building back into commission? Why have the carers in counties Cavan and Monaghan not been given an interim facility that would accommodate their needs? I am sure the Minister of State will agree that is simply not good enough. I am sure that if there was an oil leak in a business or in the Minister of State's family home that the premises would not be vacated for more than 12 months. Nobody should be. There are questions to be asked and I am hoping the Minister of State might answer some of them. When will Annalee View be up and running again? What is the story with the promised interim facility? When can the carers expect that facility to become available?

We all agree carers do an excellent job. The least we can do, as a society, is provide them with a short break away from their full-time roles.