Disability Services
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-22
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Louis O'Hara (SF), Galway East

I welcome any additional investment and the plans the Minister of State has outlined for Tuam and elsewhere. I would make the point that proper respite care is the very least we should be able to provide in a very wealthy country for our most vulnerable citizens, their families and those who care for them. The Minister and her Department must ensure this happens. There is no excuse for having a system that is under-resourced and not meeting the needs of vulnerable children and their families. We clearly still need to go further because many of the parents who are in touch with me are simply not getting the services they need. I ask that there continues to be specific engagement on this issue with the likes of Ability West and supporting the proposals it has and that the Minister of State outlined, particularly for the likes of after-school respite and things like that, which can make a big difference for people.
I also ask for specific funding for the area of crisis placements to be considered so that the emergency cases, such as those I outlined earlier, do not displace others from their planned respite. These are the kinds of assurances the families in touch with me are looking for because, as I said, for them respite is not a luxury but is absolutely essential. The risk of burn-out is real without it.
The Toghermore campus in Tuam provides a real opportunity through equine therapy to provide another form of respite to families and to bring real benefits to children with disabilities. That opportunity must be taken by the Government. Locally, we expect to see that project being progressed. I know that Ability West is very keen to work with the Government and the HSE on this.
I also want to mentioned the Before We Die campaign. There are obviously significant issues with the lack of space in residential care. I have constituents who cannot access full-time residential care for a loved one who has an intellectual disability and who desperately needs it. We must do much better for our vulnerable citizens. They are being failed.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-22/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:51+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-22