Over the last few weeks I have raised the issue of disability services in CHO 4, mainly the provision or lack of respite and access for children from Carrigaline Community Special School to local children's disability network teams, CDNTs. I welcome the clarification the Minister of State for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy Rabbitte, gave a number of weeks ago where she confirmed Mr. Bernard Gloster had agreed to the reinstatement of the CDNTs into Cork special schools. The issue of the lack of respite and the issue of CDNTs again featured on RTÉ last week where one service provider reiterated that respite services are already oversubscribed by children accessing that charity's special schools and that residential respite services for children were only available to those pupils attending those four special schools under its own patronage and in effect, not to other students attending schools outside of this. In response to this, the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, said she is engaging with all parties to find a fair resolution. She reaffirmed that all children, be they from Carrigaline Community Special School or beyond, are equally entitled to access services and therapies. It is time that someone needs to tell the service provider in question that this is the case.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. As I clarified earlier, there are ten beds in CHO 4 in Cork that are not operational at this time. I have given a suggestion to the HSE that it would recruit agency staff to open the beds and, in addition, that two of those beds would be held for the special school in Carrigaline in order that the children who attend that school would be accommodated.