Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Acting Chairman and the Minister of State for being here again.

I am very disappointed the senior Minister, Deputy Harris, is not here today. In the long term, we may have to look at particular Commencement matters where we should have the senior Minister present. Perhaps this is something that the Minister of State might bring back to the Minister, Deputy Harris, because I have a major problem in Carlow which does not involve a huge amount of money.

The Holy Angels day care centre, Carlow has been on the priority list for a new school building for more than five years now. The Government, however, has not yet delivered on this building. The HSE has made land available at Kelvin Grove for the new centre and I wish to know if there is a detailed delivery plan for the new school. I am concerned that the site at Kelvin Grove, which is on the vacant property register, has also been promised as a site for a women's refuge. It is marvellous as this facility is meant to have a site; the problem is there is no concrete plan in place. The children, their families, the staff and the management cannot wait any longer as the current conditions in the school are simply not good enough. I reiterate that the staff members in Holy Angels are among the very best in the country but it is not fair to expect them to make the best of things just because this Government cannot organise itself.

In the summer, following my representations, the Government approved an additional €25,000 for staffing from September to December. This allowed the school management to employ three childcare assistants and two bus escorts. This meant that the centre was able to offer a place to every child on its referral list for the school year. The total number of children currently attending the centre is 31 and they have a range of special needs that are being met by this centre. There is a huge programme to cater for and to implement the services required for these children with special needs.

As we all know, early intervention is essential for children attending such a specialised service in order to develop new skills and to reach their full potential. The staff at Holy Angels are the main daily providers of care and intervention, and even more so this year due to the significant reduction in occupational, speech and language therapy services. Most of the children who started in the Holy Angels this year are on waiting lists for the same services and now rely on the knowledge and experience of the centre staff to begin the implementation of therapeutic programmes.

There are big waiting lists across the country and the most vulnerable children in our society, that is, children with disabilities, are not being looked after.

The new centre has requested €62,000 for the year 2020 to retain its staff members in order that they can continue with what they are doing. I have gone to the Department of Health, to the HSE in Kilkenny-Carlow, and to Minister because unless we get the €62,000, we do not know what will happen in the long term. I have to acknowledge to the Minister of State that the €25,000 that was promised this year was provided recently to Holy Angels. Even though I have repeatedly raised this issue, it is not good enough that I must continually fight for such a small amount of money, which is so late in coming. It is crucial at this point, because it is now about saving jobs there.

The five staff members who are on temporary contracts at present need to know if they are being retained or will need to seek other employment shortly if no such confirmation is forthcoming. This places individuals and their families in a highly precarious position and the Minister of State should come back to me on this question.

If funding is not confirmed, the number of children who attend each day will have to be reduced in January. Parents will need to be informed in advance in order to arrange alternative childcare. This is also not ideal and in the approach to Christmas, this will place an unnecessary strain on them. The reduction of staff members in each classroom also will have a negative impact on the standard of care that can be provided without the role of bus escorts. Holy Angels will not be able to provide transport for as many families as it should, because supervision is needed for these children in order to use the bus services . I have raised the issue of the lack of public transport here before. The Minister of State will need to look at this issue.

My concern that unless this €62,000 is provided in early January, the two bus drivers will need to be put on protective notice and it will be necessary to consider the redundancy implications. This would be a incredibly bad news story for me. This is of great significance and there are two issues on which I need clarification. First, is the Kelvin Grove site and the funding for the building of the Holy Angels day care centre available? Second, will the €62,000 be available from January 2020, to keep the staff there in post and to retain the carers in the classrooms, who look after the most vulnerable children in our society?