Ó Laoghaire: Lack of respite ‘not good enough’

A Cork TD has asked the Government to give assurances that the HSE will deliver promised respite and therapy services for a special school in county Cork.

Speaking in Dáil Éireann yesterday, Sinn Féin TD for Cork South-Central Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire said it is “not good enough” that parents are still waiting for much needed overnight respite services at Carrigaline Community Special School.

He said he is absolutely confident that the Department of Health is committed to addressing the issue but asked what could be done to ensure the HSE follows through on the Government’s requests.

“This is about respite and this is about therapies and this is about the fact that the children and the parents of those children in Carrigaline Special School feel profoundly let down and feel they are receiving a lesser quality of service and treatment than other parents and other children in other special schools,” Deputy Ó Laoghaire said.

Carrigaline Community Special School opened in September 2021 and soon reached its full capacity of 48 pupils.

Deputy Ó Laoghaire expressed disappointment that Minister of State at the Department of Health and at the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Anne Rabbitte TD was not present at yesterday’s Dáil meeting to discuss the issue.

However, he said he does not dispute Minister Rabbitte’s commitment to the issue.

“The problem is trying to get the HSE to enact what is being brought forward by Minister Rabbitte,” continued the deputy.

“My understanding is that Minister Rabbitte walked out of a meeting recently because she was dissatisfied with what she had been told in relation to the therapies,” Mr Ó Laoghaire added.

Speaking for Minister Rabbite, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon reassured the deputy that Minister Rabbitte will continue to drive progress on the reinstatement of therapists in special schools in Carrigaline and elsewhere.

“The HSE has left us in no doubt that it has heard the message from the department and is currently doing everything possible to accelerate the support to schools,” he said.