The Taoiseach has confirmed to Northern Sound that the meeting he promised to the Monaghan parents of children with special needs will happen. Simon Harris was speaking to Joe Finnegan on his show this morning about all manner of issues important to the Shannonside / Northern Sound region.
It was put to the leader of the country that while funding has been earmarked for a new children's respite centre in County Monaghan that parents are frustrated by the "snail's pace" of government progress. Simon Harris, who it is thought to have entered politics to make conditions for families who have members with special needs better in Ireland, acknowledged "the extremely stressful time" for County Monaghan parents.
He pointed out information already in the public domain such as that €3.1 million has been approved for a new interim respite centre to be opened by October 1st, that Talbot has been appointed as its service provider and that the recruitment process to staff the new centre is underway. As far as new developments go, Mr Harris announced on the Joe Finnegan Show today, that the Government will be in a position to inform parents of the location of that centre in two weeks' time: "The families you have on your radio station can't be waiting around while people look for a suitable premises," the Taoiseach told the Joe Finnegan Show, "and many of them are in an emergency situation now so we've also now sanctioned an interim solution, which, is a two-year residential respite service for children in County Monaghan. I've been told as recently as yesterday that it will ne open on 1st October, that it will be run by the service provider, Talbot, and, again, to your point about snail's pace because I know this is a legitimate concern of parents: I'm told the recruitment process is underway and I've also been told they'll announce the location of the service in the next two weeks,"
