An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business Seanad Éireann — 2026-09-24 ============================================================ Noel O'Donovan (FG), Nominated by the Taoiseach I want to raise the serious issue of respite in west Cork. It is a matter I have spoken about in the House previously. Members know I do not mince my words when I speak on matters, and to say the respite service in west Cork is a disgrace at the moment is nothing short of the truth. The front page of today's Southern Star notes that 20 parents of families with disabilities have sent a solicitor's letter to CoAction and the Minister in terms of respite provision in west Cork. As we all know, to send a solicitor's letter must mean a situation is very serious, and such is the nature of the reason they have had to send this letter. We have a system of respite in this country that I do not think is fit for purpose. Whether we are in government or out of government, I do not think it is fit for purpose. We have a service provider in west Cork. I hate to have to go on the record with this but it is well known and the dogs on the streets in west Cork know that there is more than €5 million in a bank account yet we have a severe shortage of respite. I hear in these Houses calls on the HSE to provide extra funding for this organisation. That is fair because organisations have funding and should be providing and developing systems and places for residential and overnight respite. The HSE does have a role here to investigate these organisations to see where the funding is going and what it is going to be used for. I know the board members of CoAction in west Cork have tried and are trying. They are listening to the parents in west Cork but we need to see action. I know from having raised this matter here previously that the HSE has audited these providers. I am aware an audit has taken place but we need to see the findings of the audit. We need to see properties built. Properties and land are owned across west Cork. I am speaking here for the families. I have thought long and hard about what I should say this morning. People know that I work behind the scenes to try to find solutions but I have a duty to speak here this morning and ask where this money is going to be spent. When will these 20 families, and there are countless more across west Cork who could come together to write a letter, see respite? We see the Before We Die campaign throughout the country. What we are looking for here is respite. Families have not received respite in years. We should be doing better as a State. The funding is there. The money has been raised from the good people across west Cork and it is not State funding. There is €5 million in a bank account. We need to do better. I call for a debate with the Minister for disability urgently on this matter so we can see the reviews of the audit and we can see increased respite. --- 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/2026-09-24/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:50+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-09-24