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Seanad Éireann · 2026-01-28

Disability Services

FF Anne Rabbitte · Nominated by the Taoiseach

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Summary of this debate

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Toghermore is a HSE site in County Galway. Proposals have been made to transform the site into a centre of excellence for equine therapy, combined with putting in football pitches for the local ladies and incorporating a cross-country running track for the local athletic club. All of this would be combined in a centre of excellence with a disability-led model for equine therapy.

To explain to people who are watching the value of equine therapy, equine therapy is where a child has a sensory need met from rubbing the horse. She wishes to advise the Deputy that the Toghermore House site in Tuam, which is owned and operated by the HSE, is under review. In addition, a building at Toghermore campus has been temporarily licensed by the HSE to the Office of Public Works for the use of the Office of the Director of Authorised Intervention, Tuam.

Built by scoring every sentence in the debate on how distinctive its language is, then quoting the highest-scoring ones back word for word and in the order spoken. Nothing is paraphrased or invented — if a sentence appears here, it was said in the chamber. Drawn from 678 words across 4 contributions by 2 speakers.

Most used terms in this debate

How often each word appears across the whole debate, ranked by how distinctive it is to this debate rather than common to all parliamentary language.

toghermore 10
equine 10
therapy 11
tuam 7
hse 14
site 11
horses 5
limerick-cork 2
excellence 4
liskennett 2
occupational 4
study 5

The full debate

All 4 contributions, start to finish, in the order they were made. The one you came here for is highlighted.

FF Anne Rabbitte this contribution

I thank the Minister of State for being here this morning to take this important Commencement matter on Toghermore House. Toghermore is a HSE site in County Galway. It used to provide valuable mental health support services, but it has now moved into a more community setting within the town of Tuam. The site is still under the ownership of the HSE. Proposals have been made to transform the site into a centre of excellence for equine therapy, combined with putting in football pitches for the local ladies and incorporating a cross-country running track for the local athletic club. All of this would be combined in a centre of excellence with a disability-led model for equine therapy. We have seen the wonderful work that has gone on in Liskennett on the Limerick-Cork border. We see the work that is going on in Kanturk and in Stewarts Care. What you see when you look at the map of Ireland with the delivery of HSE equine therapy is a complete gap from Limerick to Donegal all the way over to the banks of the Shannon.

My advocacy relates to how, on 7 November 2024, the consultant engineer sent feedback and site layout drawings to the HSE estates section. I am wondering what progress we have achieved at this stage. We know that, in 2025, there was €27 million in funding for disability capital projects. I am trying to understand where we are with developing the regional centre of excellence for equine therapy.

To explain to people who are watching the value of equine therapy, equine therapy is where a child has a sensory need met from rubbing the horse. A child can also have an occupational therapist like what we see out in Clondalkin. The Clondalkin site can have one occupational therapist and five children on a horse. They will get the same value from the movements in their hips by being on the horse as having a one-to-one with that occupational therapist. We have finite resources when it comes to physio, occupational therapy and speech and language therapy. The Liskennett site on the Limerick-Cork border delivered 6,500 respite interventions last year alone. That was with 20 horses.

I am advocating that we prioritise in the capital plan the development of the Toghermore site, ensuring that we have the horses. The land is there. The development should also encompass the pitches and the running track so that people can have a dual experience. It is not just all about equine. Rather, they can actually mainstream. If the people with additional needs who are attending would like to watch the girls play or to participate in sport themselves, we should have an open and inclusive environment. What we have in Toghermore is the opportunity to develop a centre of excellence that would set us apart in the west by ensuring that we have intervention and the people of Galway, Mayo and Roscommon have access to alternative respite and intervention and, at the same time, meeting the strategy of inclusion when it comes to the national disability strategy, with children and adults with additional needs enjoying sports and the environment.

Equine therapy is not just good for children with additional needs; it is really good in addressing domestic violence. Women with trauma who can access equine therapy make fantastic recoveries, as studies in the UK have shown us.

FG Colm Brophy

I thank Senator Rabbitte on behalf of myself and the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, for raising this issue. I know it is an issue the Senator is committed to and she has made a clear and strong advocacy there.

The Minister of State is fully committed to providing the necessary supports for people with disabilities throughout the country, including those in Galway. She wishes to advise the Deputy that the Toghermore House site in Tuam, which is owned and operated by the HSE, is under review. The Senator was asking for an update, so I hope this covers it for her. In 2024, a HSE feasibility study was conducted and, following on from this work, a more in-depth health planning study was devised to provide greater detail. The HSE has additionally advised the Minister of State that it aims to have a specialist appointed in February 2026 to commence the study and will encompass the entire campus, including the building. Development of infrastructural proposals, which the Senator talked about so elegantly, cannot be progressed until this review has concluded.

The HSE is engaging with Galway County Council. A meeting was held between Ms Ann Cosgrove, the integrated healthcare area manager, and Mr. Liam Hanrahan, CEO of Galway County Council, on 4 June 2025. I am informed that a follow-up meeting was held between the HSE and the county council and that another meeting is planned by the parties in the coming days before the end of this month.

At present, the HSE continues to utilise facilities on the grounds of Toghermore House for a number of services.

These are: national counselling services, mental health services, quality and risk, paediatric outpatients, HR and administration support.

In addition, a building at Toghermore campus has been temporarily licensed by the HSE to the Office of Public Works for the use of the Office of the Director of Authorised Intervention, Tuam. The Office of the Director of Authorised Intervention, Tuam, is a time-bound agency under the auspices of the Department overseeing the excavation, recovery, analysis, identification and dignified reburial of remains located at the former mother and baby institution in Tuam.

The OPW is currently undertaking refurbishment works to fit out the building on the HSE Toghermore campus to meet the requirements of the Office of the Director of Authorised Intervention. The works are also addressing essential structural issues, for example, works on the roof, and upgrades to mechanical and electrical installations.

FF Anne Rabbitte

I welcome the commitment of the Ministers of State, Deputies Higgins and Brophy, and all colleagues within government to the Toghermore site.

It is important for me, in the few seconds that I have to lay this out, to say that I totally understand the mental health services and supports that are being delivered within Toghermore House. I totally understand the commitment that has been made in relation to the excavation works that are going on in Tuam at the mother and baby home. They are all within the buildings. I am looking to use the grass. I am looking to use the land surrounding the buildings. The horses are needed outside. The stables that we would put up would be outside. The running track is outside. The two pitches are outside. The gardens are outside and there is a coffee area that would be fantastic for training and developing people with additional needs to get them into employment. That is totally not utilised by any manner or means.

As for my ask, I not want to disturb any of the inhabitants within the building. Over time no doubt the HSE will have a plan to have the more integrated mental health services mainstreamed within the town's sphere of Tuam. While it is currently working through that process, I am only looking for access to construct, for anybody with farming terminology, a "lean-to" to put the horses into so that we have access to running water to give water to the horses. There are outdoor toilets there already.

From an infrastructural point of view, I would welcome the Minister visiting the site. I would like her to see this first hand because she is very much a Minister, from what I can see, with boots on the ground, who says, "Let her see. Let me understand it." She will understand clearly, when she sees it, that everything I am looking for is actually outside.

I am delighted that Galway County Council is engaging in the whole conversation but the opportunity is there for us to deliver upon.

FG Colm Brophy

I will convey directly to the Minister and the Minister of State - I know the Senator will because she engaged with the Minister on this - that invitation to go and see at first hand. As the Senator said, she is a Minister who likes to engage on this.

The HSE is reviewing the site. That is subject to that study being completed. The study will include considerations for the equine therapy centre, as the Senator mentioned. That is a very important thing that they do.

I will convey the Senator's remarks to the Minister. I thank her.

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