Member's statement: Respite Services: Fermanagh
Member's statement by Miss Áine Murphy on .
- MLA
- Miss Áine Murphy
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 1 June 2026
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Respite Services: Fermanagh
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5580804
Read the official Assembly record
Text
The ongoing crisis facing families of children with complex needs and disabilities across Fermanagh is driven by the severe lack of short-stay respite services, particularly the lack of community-based services. For years, families in Fermanagh have had to fight for respite provision in their community, yet many are still expected to travel significant distances to access basic support, with Omagh and Derry often being the nearest available options. Even then, support is not guaranteed. When a family reaches breaking point, an emergency intervention is required. Respite beds that were offered to families on a short-term basis have been repurposed for medium- or long-term care. Of course, no one disputes the need to support children in crisis, but the reality is that families are left without the respite that they rely on to keep going and to prevent crisis in the first place. The situation has only worsened with the loss of community-based interventions and support, such as the Brighter Futures programme, which provided safe activities and outings for children at weekends and during the school holiday period especially. Many families are staring into the summer months with little support and few opportunities for their children to take part in activities that others simply take for granted. We all know that our health service is under pressure and that budgets are stretched, but those families cannot continue to be treated as an afterthought. Respite care is not a luxury; it is essential for the well-being of children, for the stability of families and to prevent more serious interventions being needed later. Families in Fermanagh have waited long enough. They deserve local access to respite services and meaningful community-based supports and to know that their children's needs are being prioritised. Crucially, that must include proper post-19 provision, so that those young people and others with complex needs are not left facing a cliff edge when it comes to getting support into adulthood.
I urge the Minister of Health to listen and, most importantly, to act and work urgently with the Western Trust to deliver a stand-alone, short-term respite service facility in County Fermanagh, alongside the community support that children and families need and deserve.
362 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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