Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I propose an amendment to the Order of Business that the Minister of State at the Department of Health with responsibility for disability services, Deputy Finian McGrath, come to the House today to discuss the proposed closure on Friday of the Cuisle facility in Donamon in County Roscommon. I propose that this debate be taken at 3 p.m. instead of the resumed debate on the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017. It is a matter of great urgency that the Irish Wheelchair Association, IWA, has decided to close this resort, which provides respite and holiday services for people with disabilities, without any consultation with its members. We need a debate today to allow for a postponement of the decision by the Joint Committee on Health last Thursday and to discuss how additional funding can be secured to ensure the service is retained. There must be an extraordinary general meeting of the IWA to allow members to have their say. It is not acceptable that the executive members of the IWA should act like a dictatorship by deciding, without any consultation, to close the unit on Friday, 30 November.

My appeal to avert that closure is a reasonable one. The same call was made at a rally in Roscommon last Saturday which was organised by a support group in Oran and attended by 2,000 people. The people of County Roscommon are as one on this matter. The Minister of State must explain to us the position of the HSE and the Government in regard to the closure of this important service for people with disabilities. It is an issue of fundamental importance but it is not getting national coverage because most media, including RTÉ, are very much Dublin-oriented. We have at least had some input from the State broadcaster's regional correspondents. The matter would have had no publicity at all if not for them and the local media, including local radio stations Shannonside and RosFM, the Roscommon Heraldand the Roscommon People. They are giving the issue oxygen and making sure people in the area know what is going on.