Health Service Executive Seanad Éireann — 2026-03-18 ============================================================ Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (FF), Carlow-Kilkenny I thank the Senator for raising this really serious issue. I am taking this matter on behalf of Minister of State, Deputy Emer Higgins, who is just returning today from St. Patrick's Day duties. This matter is really serious and the Minister of State is aware of this case and the letter referred to by the Senator. In order to protect the privacy of the individual and their family, it is not appropriate to comment on the specific details in relation to this case. However, officials within the Department of Children, Disability and Equality have liaised with the HSE in relation to the issue raised by the family and the details of this correspondence issued by the HSE and so I believe there has been correspondence. This an ongoing operational matter for the HSE. The HSE advises that the sentence the Senator refers to was part of a more detailed two-page letter outlining available supports and options to the family. HSE South West states that it did not intend to cause any upset and apologises sincerely for the upset caused. The Minister understands that the case is being responded to locally. Relevant service providers have been engaging directly with the individual and their family and appropriate supports are being put in place. This Government recognises the vital work carried out by family carers and acknowledges the impact on carers' physical and mental health. The Department of Children, Disability and Equality, alongside the HSE, is continuing to work to increase provision in order to assist those who are most vulnerable in our society, and who urgently require services. To support families and carers, the HSE and contracted service providers make every effort to provide the correct supports for individuals when needed, including day services, respite services, residential services, home support and personal assistance. HSE disability services provide supports for people with complex disability needs and the level of support provided for each person is aligned to their assessed needs and individual circumstances. Current policies aim to ensure as far as possible that the supports for a person are based on individual assessed need, will and preference and to support people to remain as close to home and connected to their community as they can in line with Article 19 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, UNCRPD, which the Senator spoke about. The programme for Government includes a number of commitments to advance the rights and improve the lives of people with disabilities, including a commitment to address waiting lists for specialist disability services by implementation of the Action Plan for Disability Services 2024-2026, and resourcing and delivering on its targets. The programme for Government also recognises the requirement for a whole-of-government approach to advance the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In 2025, the Department of Children, Disability and Equality published the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which was developed with input from disabled people and representative organisations on the issues that matter the most to them. The Department of Children, Disability and Equality and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage will work in collaboration with a number of other Departments and agencies, including the HSE and local authorities, to advance pillar 3 of the strategy, which outlines a collective approach to provide a clear pathway for disabled people to access the supports they require to live independently and address the barriers that impact on their daily lives. The Senator highlighted many cases. As he said, people are living longer. The services have to be there for people with disabilities. I acknowledge that and think it is important that all of us, working together, make sure that we deliver that. I thank the Senator for highlighting the serious issues. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-03-18/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:44+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-03-18