A delegation of Monaghan parents of children with additional needs are to travel to the Dáil next month to meet with ministers. Sinn Féin TD for Cavan and Monaghan, Matt Carthy has organised the meeting.
Members of the Special Needs Active Parents (SNAP) based in Monaghan will meet with Disabilities Minister Anne Rabbitte and whoever the Fine Gael replacement for Josepha Madigan will be when she steps down as Minister of Special Education. Monaghan remains one of the few counties in Ireland without a special needs school, dedicated children's respite centre or full-time adult respite centre. Local parents have been campaigning for successive governments to deliver what their families need.
At present, some Monaghan children with additional needs need to travel around two hours each way for part-time respite care in County Cavan. Matt Carthy says he wants all members of the Oireachtas from the Cavan-Monaghan area to work together to deliver on this issue: "I'm going to be asking all Oireachtas members from Cavan-Monaghan to liaise with me," Deputy Carthy told Northern Sound, "We're going to be seeking a meeting with Anne Rabbitte, the Minister for Disabilities, and we're going to seek a meeting with the minister of Special Education. There will be someone new in place and I want one of the first messages they hear is the message, loud and clear, that County Monaghan needs a special school that operates in the same way the Holy Family School in Cootehill has been operating so well for the children who attend there."
