Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
Dail Éireann — 2026-05-28
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Cian O'Callaghan (SD), Dublin Bay North

I welcome that the Tánaiste is being frank about how appalling the situation is and is acknowledging that it has to change and is not acceptable. If the Government is serious about not-for-profit providers being able to play a better role, it must provide ring-fenced multi-annual funding in order that they can plan for services.
I will provide an example. Before the Tánaiste's party took office, St. Michael's House had five respite homes in 2008. It now has just one. There is a six-year waiting list for adults with intellectual disabilities to access respite. As parents are getting older and becoming exhausted, they cannot even access respite for their loved ones. That is an appalling situation. Is the Government going to address that? There is no need for this to be happening. The HSE has been aware of the needs of adults with an intellectual disabilities for years. It does not need to wait for crisis situations to occur. This could be fixed and it needs to be fixed. Targets are one thing ,but we need clear timelines and ring-fenced multi-annual funding. Will the Tánaiste commit to that? When are we going to get information about that?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-05-28/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-21T01:01:08+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-28