Pauline Tully
Cultural and Educational Panel · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“I acknowledge that there have been huge improvements on what is available for women, compared with a few years ago when there was nothing, but still far too often conditions affecting women are seen as a specialty or mystery when there is a range of supports and advice that women could receive through primary and community care services.”
“Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire chuig an Seanad. I welcome the Bill. We will be fully supporting it. It makes sense. It will reduce barriers for women and make access to contraception easier, which is always going to be welcome. It will also ease pressure on primary care.”
“We need to look at a better public transport system, especially looking after our older people in isolated communities. Even to support our rural pub, we need to look at some sort of incentive for a taxi service that is affordable for people, so we can maintain our rural pubs and look after our older people.”
“Community and voluntary services on the ground, which are vital for providing supports and services to many sectors of the community, including older people and younger people, are not seeing sufficient funding to help them to keep running, to recruit and retain staff within the youth sector, for example, to maintain buildings if they hav…”
“The motion that we have put forward is very broad and covers many aspects that affect us in rural life. I too am astounded by the amendment tabled by the Government because it does not call for anything, which gives the impression that everything that is needed is there, yet many colleagues across the room here ask for more gardaí in thei…”
“Sláintecare is being rolled out too slowly, so we need to see proper resourcing of community healthcare. It avoids people ending up in acute healthcare settings, which are overcrowded. I see a dangerous trend where many people are being referred from areas such as Cavan and Monaghan to Dublin for acute care.”
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“I thank the Minister of State. I understand that would normally be the case, but in this circumstance, their nearest school is full. Even Bus Éireann has said that if the Department of education is satisfied that the nearest school is full, parents must then provide directly to the Department of Education and Youth evidence of an application for enrolment that was made within the deadline, a letter from the school authorities confirming that the school was full and, if necessary, a copy of any appeal. Bus Éireann is saying it will look at the issues where children's nearest schools are full and they must go to the next nearest school. I know the parents of the student in question did apply to the nearest school and were refused. They enrolled in St. Bricin's because they needed a school for their child. St.”
“This fee is charged whether the school is open or not, so if there is a day the school is closed for some reason or if there is a bank holiday in the week they still have to pay the €50. I contacted Bus Éireann staff who said they are aware of the situation and that they have notified the Department as they cannot put a route on without sanction from the Department. I am looking for clarity on what will happen with this. The school was told the bus would be provided if there were ten or more pupils. This has not happened. I understand that normally they would be considered concessionary pupils but because there is no space for them in their nearest schools in their locality, there is a way of putting on a bus for these students to get them to school and not have to pay excessive amounts.”
“The school was led to believe that if there were ten students or more in this situation that the Department of Education and Youth would sanction a school bus from Cavan town to St. Bricin's College to bring these students. They were informed of that last April. They actually registered for school transport and they paid or put in their medical card details but they have now been left in limbo in that they do not know whether this bus is going to be sanctioned. At the moment, if they can afford it, they are paying for a private bus, which costs €50 week per student. Some students are not attending school because they cannot afford to pay for the bus to get there. One family has three students going to that school so they are paying €150. There is no reduction for siblings or for more than one student in the school.”
“I thank the Minister of State for taking this issue. I am conscious that we are almost at the end of September so school is back about a month. There is a situation in St. Bricin's College, Belturbet, County Cavan that has not yet been resolved. I am seeking clarification and what the intention is going forward. I was contacted by the principal to say there are 32 students enrolled in St. Bricin's school in Belturbet who live in Cavan town or its environs. There are secondary schools in Cavan town but they are all full, or they are full for the years these students need to go into because they are not all first year students. They all have letters stating that they had attempted to enrol, that there is no place for them and they cannot be accepted into the schools.”
“The reason I am raising it with this Department is that Government contracts to companies that will not engage with a union should not be granted to them. We have the example of BT, which has the contract for the emergency call answering services. It refuses to engage with its workers in a collective bargaining situation and has actually actively targeted those in the workforce and engaged in union busting. I really feel that government contracts should not be given to any company which will not engage with a union. We need to see legislation introduced that will compel all employers to engage with unions. It exists in the North and many other European countries. We need to see it implemented here.”
“That is extraordinary and needs to be addressed, because this is taxpayers' money. Will it mean that the cost will be passed on to the students so that rents will be higher? While I welcome the investment of taxpayers' money by the Government in this, it cannot just be spent like that, where it is way over what it should be. The other issue I want raise is collective bargaining. It is seen as a fundamental right in nearly every country of Europe. It is recognised by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and by the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. However, it is still not considered a right in Ireland. While people have a right to join a union, there is no compulsion on employers to recognise or engage with that union.”
“The Technological Universities Act 2018 foresaw a borrowing mechanism but this has still not been put in place. In 2021, the Government said that it would implement that but there is still no mechanism in place. Perhaps this could be addressed so we could see student accommodation being built. UCD has a considerable amount of student accommodation but it is quite expensive. It is the most expensive in the country. Recently, it was announced that the second phase of the village would progress, which is welcome. Taxpayers' money amounting to €67.7 million is being invested in that. However, I am hugely concerned about the cost of this accommodation. It is being built on university land, so the land is not costing money. It is reckoned that the cost is approaching €250,000 per bedroom.”
“I want to concentrate on a couple of issues. The first is third level student accommodation. At the moment, it is reckoned that we are short 25,000 to 30,000 beds. This means students are forced to compete with workers and families in the private sector. As a result, they are paying extremely high rents. The rents in some student accommodation are becoming very high. The Higher Education Authority, HEA, projects that the gap could grow to 68,000 by 2035. That is an alarming figure, so we need to see increased investment in student accommodation. We also need to see an inequity addressed regarding the technological universities. Currently, universities can borrow, usually from the European Investment Bank, to build on-campus residences, but the technological universities cannot.”
“We have wheelchair-accessible taxis but I do not know what the issue is with taxi drivers. They may be just too lazy to get the ramp out and help the person to get into the taxi. That also has to be addressed. That is totally unfair. This man had done everything right to get here on time and ended up being let down by two taxi drivers. We can be thankful that, with a little bit of help, the third was able to get him here.”
“The third taxi came and the ramp was working but the driver did not know how to use it. Padraig and his PA instructed him on how to use it safely and Padraig managed to get to Leinster House and make his presentation before the session was over. The issue of transport overall was highlighted by many of the people at the session, as were the cost of disability and the many other issues covered in the pre-budget submission. As those speakers pointed out, if transport is not accessible, people cannot get to education or work, go shopping or partake in social activities. They have to depend on family all of the time, which is totally unfair. I would like a debate with either the Minister for disability or the Minister for Transport, because it crosses the two Departments, on the issue of accessible transport.”
“I attended a pre-budget submission presentation by Rehab yesterday in the audiovisual room. I commend the work it does through its various entities: Rehab Enterprises, RehabCare and the National Learning Network. The speaker who was due to deliver the first speech, Padraig, is a wheelchair user. He was taking the train from Cork, where he lives. He had booked a wheelchair-accessible taxi from the train station to Leinster House. The taxi arrived on time and was wheelchair accessible but when he saw that the wheelchair was a larger motorised model, the taxi driver said his ramp was not working and that Padraig would have to call for another taxi. He called for another taxi and the same thing happened. The second taxi came but he was told the ramp was not working and he had to call for a third taxi.”
“The Government and the EU need to look more closely at the causes of migration. I do not think enough is being done on this. The causes are mainly war and climate change, yet nothing is being done about the sale of weapons to dictators in various countries where wars are ongoing and people are suffering and have to flee. The climate change occurring in poor countries is not their fault but is because of the colonial powers that controlled them for many generations and took the riches out of them. We really need to deal with the causes of migration if we are going to sort out this problem for the long term.”
“It should not be seen as something that is done in secret and behind people's backs. I want to call out those who are racist and are trying to sow division in communities. The vast majority of Irish people are not racist. Some have very legitimate concerns about the crises that face us in both housing and health. Those crises existed long before the latest influx of immigrants coming into our country, but there are people who seek to blame people coming into the country for the crises. The blame for the crises lies at the door of Governments, which failed to address them for decades. The vast majority of people coming here are also decent people who want to work and improve their living conditions for themselves and their families, just like Irish people did for many generations when they left our shores and went elsewhere.”
“Unfortunately, we need to see people deported if they do not meet the threshold. There is also massive profiteering in the provision of frequently inappropriate private IPAS accommodation. The State must provide State-owned accommodation – proper accommodation for people seeking protection. We also need to see properly resourced integration measures put into our communities, because a lot of it is falling on family resource centres, which are doing a terrific job but they are absolutely over-worked and over-subscribed and they are not getting the resources needed to do this work. We need to put more resources into family resource centres and other services to provide integration. We also need to ensure there are open and transparent discussions with communities on immigration and international protection.”
“It suits some to blow it out of proportion as well. When we break down the number of immigrants coming into the country, quite a number are returning Irish emigrants. Some are coming from Britain and the EU, who do not need any visas or permission to come here. Many also come here on work visas. I commend those who come here to work in the health, hospitality, construction and IT sectors because they make a huge contribution to society. There is also a proportion coming to seek international protection. The international protection system has been in crisis mode for quite some time. Applications are taking far too long to process. While there might be some improvement in the time, it is still taking too long. People who do not meet the threshold for asylum are not being deported.”
“This discussion is on migration, which covers both immigration and emigration. As a state, Ireland is no stranger to emigration. We have had millions of people leave our shores over the last couple of centuries. Unfortunately, we still have quite a number of young, highly skilled, highly qualified people leaving our shores. They are going to Australia, Dubai and various parts of the globe, some for the experience and to travel the world but many because they cannot afford to live here and they see no prospect of getting on the property ladder. They are going to these countries to work hard enough to get a deposit so that they can buy or build a house when they return home. That is something that needs to be addressed. Immigration is an issue that is coming up in all our communities when we talk to people on the doorsteps.”
“How can children disappear for years on end and not be missed by State agencies that should know their whereabouts and have the checks in place so they know that children are safe? It is something we need to ensure will not happen again or that it has not happened again. We need to ensure there are no children out there unaccounted for. We need to get answers on the two we know of and ensure there are safeguards going forward. I call again for that debate.”
“I extend condolences to his parents Gillian and Stephen again and commend them on speaking out so bravely on Harvey’s struggles and how he waiting so long for an operation on his spine that by the time it was performed the progression of the spinal curve was so severe that it could not be fully corrected. I know other children have become inoperable because they too have had to wait so long and that should not be the case. No child should have to wait in pain for an operation that they require so that they can live their life to the full. The other issue is that of children disappearing. We had little Daniel Aruebose in Donabate and it is still unknown what happened to little Kyran Durnin either in his life.”
“If I may start by joining my colleagues in wishing Martin Hughes the best of luck in his new position and congratulating him on it. I am sure he will carry it out in a professional way just as Martin Groves and Bridget Doody did. I thank them for their courtesy, support and professionalism and wish them long and happy retirements. I wish to raise the issue of children and safeguards for children in our country and ask for a debate on it. A number of issues occurred over the summer that are of huge concern. The first was the sad passing of Harvey Morrison Sherratt.”
“It was psychological in some cases too, where a child who had learning difficulties would be made a show of in the class. They might be made to wear a dunce’s hat. Could something be done, even to allow those people to air their stories? They deserve an acknowledgement of the torture and hurt they went through in school and the long-lasting impact it has had on them. Redress is not part of this as it would be a parallel process but that would be welcome and needs to proceed. Overall, I welcome this but if something could be done for those who suffered physical abuse it would be welcome.”
“While I would not normally listen to the Joe Duffy show, after the scoping inquiry was published last September I listened to it while people were coming on and telling stories about the extreme physical abuse they received. The sexual abuse was hidden but the physical abuse was not and in some cases, it was systematic and sadistic. It was horrific. I wonder if there could be some sort of survivor engagement with people who suffered extreme physical abuse? I am aware that corporate punishment was legal and I remember when it was legal. Children would get a slap on the hand for something they did in school. Obviously that was not correct either. We do not need adults hitting children in school. However, what some people talked about was torture and it was often the same people who were picked on a regular basis.”
“We know the abusers are the guilty ones, ultimately, but so are those who knew this was happening and turned a blind eye, so are those who helped to cover up the abuse and so are those who allowed people to be moved from one school to another so they could continue their abuse and said nothing. It is welcome that everybody will be investigated by this commission. I am aware that some people have stated physical and psychological abuse are not included in this. They cannot be included and they are not within the terms of the commission. However, can something be done for people who suffered extreme physical abuse in school? Sometimes on Thursdays when I leave the House and drive home, I listen to the Joe Duffy show.”
“That sent him spiralling into another form of abuse where he engaged in drug use and ended up homeless here in the city. Thankfully, when I talked to him, he had received help and was making his way back. He was dealing with it and getting counselling and support. He told me he was in a shop one day and he saw his abuser in the shop. He said he was an adult standing there and the abuser was an old man. He said his legs still went to jelly and he could not go near him. He could not confront him and he actually hid behind a shelf so he would not meet him. That was the effect that man had on him and so many more. The emotional and psychological supports are so important.”
“The word historical sometimes suggest that this happened a long time ago. Unfortunately, it is not that long ago. Only last year I talked to a young man who was only in his 30s. He was sexually abused in his primary school by a priest or a brother. He did not tell anyone. He was full of anger. He said when he went to secondary school, he treated all his teachers with mistrust. By his own admission, he said he was extremely difficult to work with in school. He said he was full of anger and missed a lot of school as result. As he moved on in life, his abuser came forward himself and confessed to the Garda about all the boys he had abused in the school. The Garda reached out to this man and his family and that was the first time they were aware there was abuse.”
“I also want to remember those who are no longer with us because many, unfortunately, took their own lives through suicide as a result of the damage done to them as children when they were abused in schools. The abuse has had long-lasting effects such as suicide, mental health issues, marital breakdown and addiction issues. There are so many ways it has negatively affected people's lives. I welcome the survivor engagement and the emotional and psychological supports provided to people who engage in that process. As many as possible should be encouraged to engage. I echo the call to make sure everything is accessible to people because unfortunately, we know people in special schools were affected by this. Many may have literacy difficulties or other disabilities and we have to make sure that everybody can be reached.”
“I wish the Minister a good afternoon. I welcome the commission of investigation into the handling of historical sexual abuse. I welcome the fact it is day and boarding schools and that it is religious and non-religious and it covers all schools. It is not before time. There are many people waiting a long time to air their stories, to be listened to and importantly, to be believed. It is really welcome there is now a format for doing that. I commend all those who bravely spoke out. It cannot have been easy for them. I also acknowledge the many who were too traumatised to speak out, or are still too traumatised to speak out. We cannot forget about those. It is important they get the supports to engage with the commission.”
“The nearest airport to me is Dublin Airport. It is such a busy airport. We have to drive there, then park and get a shuttle bus, and then walk for a long time to get from one part of the airport to the other. When I was a child Shannon Airport was utilised far more. I recall going to Shannon Airport regularly to meet or leave relatives at the airport who were returning to the United States. I have used Knock Airport, even though it is little bit further away from me, and it is a convenient airport because people can park right beside it and walk in. Belfast airport is the same. It would be very welcome to see investment in our regional airports so they could have more capacity.”
“This has been raised time and again with the National Transport Authority and it still has not been rectified. It needs to be reviewed on an ongoing basis and extra capacity supplied where needed. The Local Link network is very welcome. It continues to expand and connect local towns to a main town or to bus networks servicing other towns and larger areas outside the county. We want to see this continue to expand and facilitate more people. Stops between villages are not allowed and this is very frustrating. In the area where I live, a service goes from Cavan to Ballinagh to Kilnaleck. It stops in each of these towns but not between them. People have to go into the nearest village to get the bus so they might as well take the whole journey to Cavan in their car. If stops could be facilitated between villages, it would be very welcome.”
“A minute amount is provided for local roads. I know this does not come under the Minister's current portfolio but it came under his previous one. The funding was not provided in sufficient amounts to repair the roads and keep them up to date. We had a history of poor roads in Cavan and we are going back to it. We had pothole candidates elected 20 years ago. The 109 and 109X bus routes provide a regular hourly service from Cavan to Dublin. Some of the services go to Dublin Airport also, which is very welcome. It needs to be reliable but that is not always the case. It is frequently late and there are serious capacity issues on the 109X route returning from Dublin to Cavan in the evenings. Passengers are often left standing at a bus stop because there is not sufficient capacity on the bus.”
“I come from County Cavan. We have no rail network and nor do Monaghan, Tyrone, Fermanagh and Donegal. The entire area has no railway. We did but the Government at that time, some 60 years ago, had no foresight and decided to end the rail service to Cavan. Not only did it do that but it allowed people to build over the rail line, take it up and sell the sleepers. I know Cavan is included in the all-island strategic rail review, and there are proposals for a connection from Portadown to Monaghan and Cavan but it is way down the line. This leaves us dependent on the roads. The road structure is very poor and is deteriorating more and more. There is a large rural network of roads in Cavan. There is probably 3,000 km of roads. Approximately 10% of the roads should be repaired every year but there is not sufficient funding provided to do this.”
“The Irish Postmasters' Union have stated that if the investment of €75 million over the next five years, that is, €15 million a year, is not provided, the future for the post office network is bleak. With increased investment, we need to see new initiatives like increased banking services or support for different Government schemes. There was almost a concerted effort to move from post offices to banks for social welfare payments. We need to see that reversed. Post offices contribute approximately €767 million to the social and economic value of our country as well. We have to keep that in mind. It is worth comparing with our EU counterparts. France invests 270% more in its post office network than we do. Belgium invests 500% more and Italy invests 340% more. We need to learn from those.”
“That was really important in my area because there were a lot of people from eastern Europe working in and around the village over the past 20 years. They used the post office on a continual basis to contact home and send money home and so forth. They could not do that anymore. They had to then travel and most of them do not have cars. They had to rely on public transport to get to another village to use the post office. The Minister of State said himself there is a social aspect to the post office. He is correct in that, but we should actually respect that. We need to see the outdated contract terms changed. When the postmaster or postmistress is retiring, the post office closes because it is not attracting new entrants. We need to see a new contract and new approach. We need to see increased investment.”
“It ignored, however, the fact there were 5,000 people living in a 5 km hinterland of that village, that there were 40 businesses in and around the village and about the same number within a couple of miles of the village. It resulted in people having to travel to one or the other of two nearby towns to access post office services. With that, they took their business out of the village. They were not going to collect their pension or whatever other payment through the post office and then come back into Kilnaleck to do their shopping, go for their cup of coffee or whatever it might be. The whole village suffered as a result of that and business was lost from the village. A post office is important. It offers financial services, access to social welfare and communications infrastructure.”
“I live in a rural area of County Cavan, about 3 miles from the village of Kilnaleck. Some 12 or 13 years ago, there was a branch of Ulster Bank with an ATM that was open all hours, a branch of Cavan Credit Union and a post office in the town. Now, there are none of those. There was an ATM service provided through one of the shops when the ownership changed, so at least that is there during opening hours. The post office there was one of the 257 that have closed in the past decade. It is one of seven that closed in Cavan, all in rural areas. The reason given at the time by An Post for the closure was that there were under 500 people living in the village.”
“We really need to see legislation that supports people by giving them time off work, time to grieve and support to get over the traumatic loss of a pregnancy. I think if you have not been through it yourself, you sometimes do not realise what is involved. This Bill is so important. I, too, am utterly dismayed by the Government's amendment to delay this Bill. I do not see a need for that. This Bill is an important piece of legislation that we all support here and it should be allowed to pass.”
“It was a female consultant. When she went back she was treated in a clinical fashion and told, "These are your three options." There was no warning or proper support. She opted to taking two pills at home, two days apart, to end the pregnancy. She was not warned about what would happen. She took the first pill on the Friday evening and almost immediately went into excruciating pain, spending eight hours on the floor, bleeding. She was not even fit to be moved by ambulance. Luckily, her partner was with her. She should have been warned about the possible effects. There should have been some pathway for him to get support. He was ringing the hospital but there was no support there whatsoever and no options. They are still traumatised by the whole effects of what happened.”
“I would say it is at least one in four and probably much more, so it affects a huge proportion of the population. As has been said, so many people are just expected to get up and get on with it, go back to work and pretend nothing happened. We talk about the physical effects on the mother but the emotional and psychological effects on both parents are tremendous. People need support and this legislation would go some way to providing that support and understanding. I have a friend who found out she was pregnant a few months ago. She was delighted but at around 12 weeks, she realised something was wrong. She went to the hospital and it was confirmed she was miscarrying. She was treated with compassion and kindness but she was told she would have to come back in to discuss her options going forward with the consultant.”
“The Pregnancy Loss (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025 is vital and well-drafted legislation. I commend my colleague, Senator Ryan, on all her work on the Bill and for sharing her personal story. I also commend other Members who have done so. That is not easy. I come from a family of ten. I am the second youngest and I was an adult before my mother admitted she had a miscarriage on her fifth pregnancy. She lost twins. She and my father talked about it then. I should have had two more siblings. The impact it had on my mother was such that she did not discuss it after it happened. I have six sisters and three of them have had miscarriages. To say one in four pregnancies end in miscarriage is a huge underestimation of the numbers affected.”
“Almost half of those who took part in the study were not in receipt of any support such as SUSI. Students are very concerned about accommodation and the cost-of-living measures. They are concerned about the proposed increase to the student contribution by the Minister, Deputy Lawless, to €3,000 from this autumn. Last week, we witnessed what I see as a false argument between two parties in government together, each blaming the other Minister for the situation. I ask that the Ministers come together and sort out this issue. Do not raise the fees. It will have a detrimental effect on our third level student population. The dropout rate is very concerning and this is only going to make it worse.”
“It is a two-hour journey there and a two-hour journey back. This means he misses out on social life and mandatory trips, and his attendance has been heavily impacted. I have just come from the audiovisual room where the students union at the Technological University of the Shannon presented a report, called "No Room for Learning: Accommodation and Cost of Living Report". Its findings reflect what this student in Cavan says and what students throughout the country state. It makes for stark reading. The majority of those living with their parents are doing so because they have no choice. They are commuting long distances. Those who find somewhere to rent pay extortionate rents and often share rooms with strangers. They are working up to 30 hours a week to support themselves, which is impacting their studies.”
“Last week, I received an email about student accommodation from a third level student who was from County Cavan and studying in Dublin. In the email, he stated he had a savings fund that was supposed to cover his housing for the four years he would be studying. He had entered into a year-long rental contract at €1,000 a month. The place was in shambles with broken furniture, and he felt he had very few rights and supports. He then had to move to digs where he had no renter's rights or access to a kitchen and had to commute from Lucan to Dublin city centre. He also could not stay at weekends or leave his things there. The next accommodation was worse. It was more expensive and had hidden fees that he had no knowledge of when he moved in. He had to move back home to County Cavan and now commutes to Dublin.”
“We need to support people in our communities on an ongoing basis and not just leave them to the wolves. We need to see proper funding support for recovery services, such as publicly owned, community-operated rehabilitation and detoxification inpatient facilities. We also need to see supports for dual diagnoses of mental health and addiction because they go hand-in-hand. I acknowledge the great support our resource centres are giving to families in our communities. Many of them end up trying to provide services to people with drug and alcohol issues. They are not being funded properly. We need to see proper funding put into our resource centres and all of our community-based centres to support people in our communities.”
“Our prisons are overcrowded. The Minister of State was on the disability committee. We heard from the Prison Service about how may people were in prison due to mental health issues. They should not be in there. That is not the place for them. It is the same with people with addiction problems. That is not where they can get the proper help. They need help. We need to see the decriminalisation of people for possession of drugs. They need to be given the opportunity to engage with health-led services. I hope that will steer them away from drugs, drink and addiction problems and into a different lifestyle. We need to see an increase in funding for our local and regional drug and alcohol task forces. It was cut drastically at the time of the recession. They are the services that should never be cut.”
“Those who come from a background where there is poverty, deprivation - it might be intergenerational poverty and deprivation - or intergenerational addiction find it more difficult to get the help to get out of that situation. As well as the health-led approach for those who have addiction issues, we need to see investment in communities that have suffered deprivation and intergenerational poverty. That will make all the difference. I often hear there is no place for young people to hang-out. I see it myself; there is no place for them in many of our communities. They end up taking the wrong choices or going to the pub because that is the only option available to them to socialise and mix. That is the wrong message to be sending to our young people. We should have facilities for our young people. We need to invest in our communities.”
“Some of them died due to accidental overdose, some due to suicide because of the mental health issues related to drug abuse, and some because of drug intimidation and debt intimidation, unfortunately. It leaves behind devastation in families and communities. We hear all the time the statement that drugs are everywhere and commonplace, and that is frightening. As the mother of two sons in their teenage years, I am frightened for them. All I can do is talk to them and hope that I can get to through to them about staying away from drugs. However, drugs affect everybody. Drugs affect every community and people from all socioeconomic backgrounds.”
“The outlook of the drugs strategy is the correct one. It is a health-led approach. When someone with a drug or alcohol addiction seeks help, he or she needs to access that help there and then, not be told that there is a waiting list of three or six months for services, which is what is happening in my home area. There is are huge waiting lists for any sort of help. I taught in a secondary school for many years and I would not like to sit down and write down all the names of my former pupils who are now deceased as a result of drugs. There are too many of them. Those young lives were cut short because they did not get the help that they required.”
“The national drugs strategy is coming to an end, so one would imagine that preparation should be ongoing to review the current strategy in order to learn from it and inform the next strategy or where we go from here, but stakeholders have expressed concern that there has been a lack of consultation on the ground. There are many organisations that work in our communities. They know what is going on. They work with people with addiction problems and with those people's families, yet these organisations are not being properly supported or engaged with. The biggest issue is the lack of funding. Many of them are section 38 or section 39 organisations. They are not provided with multi-annual funding. They also have a huge issue with retaining staff. Staff are not paid sufficiently for their vital work.”
“Another carer told me one of her clients had passed away. She worked for a HSE-contracted agency, but waited weeks to be assigned to new people and was down money as a result. She was there, willing, able and trained up to provide care, people require it, yet she was not assigned to provide that care. There seems to be an issue that those with the most need are often not prioritised over those with less need. That is something that needs to be looked at as well. I would love to see a debate on this issue looking at the whole system because something in it seems to be broken where hours are available but are not being assigned. We also need to look at ways of trying to employ more carers and making sure that we can hold on to them for long time. Pay and conditions are key issues in this regard.”
“I raise the issue of home care hours for older and disabled people. I am regularly contacted by families of older and disabled people regarding home care hours. Where hours are sanctioned, carers are possibly not turning up for their shifts, or when two carers are required, only one turns up. This happens regularly at weekends. Where needs have changed and a person requires more care, the HSE will say the hours are sanctioned but that it cannot identify carers to provide the slot. On the other hand, I hear from carers whose client may possibly be in hospital and whose hours are banked by the HSE. Therefore, the carers have been paid but are not filling those hours and they are not being allocated to others. Even as a temporary measure, it would make such a difference to the family carers looking after older or disabled people.”
“In September 2009, 500,000 Euros was allocated for this purpose. We demand that this promise be honoured and that a fitting memorial be established as a lasting public testament to our history, which is at risk of being forgotten neglected or erased from the public consciousness. Because promises were made and promises must be kept. Our message to the Government: Your apology was a start. Apologies without action are hollow. We demand the promises made to us be fulfilled. We urge you to act now before more lives are lost waiting with courage, hope and unyielding resolve. The letter is signed by: Miriam Moriarty Owens, Mary Donovan, Mary Dunleavy Greene, Mary Smith, Catherine Coffey O'Brien, Ann O'Gorman and Maurice O'Connell, who are survivors of Ireland's industrial and reformatory school system.”