Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)

I am glad the Minister is here. I raised this issue last night in the context of a debate on a motion tabled by Sinn Féin. The Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, listened carefully. I refer to the absence of respite services in Galway. I hope the Minister takes this, with his background in finance and public expenditure and reform. When we speak about millions being allocated for services, it is a postcode lottery and is not based on rights. I have a letter here, with the name removed, which speaks of there being no respite services.

When the HSE wrote to the organisation, Ability West, it advised that its respite service is at full capacity and is waitlisted. Listen to those words, "is waitlisted". We have no idea when that child will get a service and that child is not alone. What are the feedback mechanisms for the data that is necessary to inform policy and the spending of money? What data is coming back from Galway city and county about the absence of respite services?

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