Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do indeed and I will make two quick points before we go to the vote. I travel to London a bit and I am aware of the strong Irish community that is there. I lived in London myself for many years. I would be very surprised if those living in the heart of London were finding Dublin more expensive, I have to say. I would be very surprised, given the size and the cost of Dublin itself. I take what the Deputy says in good faith because I know he would not say it unless somebody had said it to him, and a group of people did.

With regard to where we are with our health services and recruitment, we are still in a situation where, particularly over the past year, the HSE recruited more people than it had the budget for. This is at odds with the reality the Deputy is pointing to. As I said in answering an earlier question from the Deputy, we have employed more than 20,000 more people in the health services in recent years. The fact we have been successful in recruiting so many nurses and doctors in particular does point, I would argue, to the fact that the pay and terms offered to them compare well with what is available.

With regard to disability, I entirely reject the view that it is seen as somewhat of a minority responsibility of any Department, for no other reason than the fact that the budget for disability services for this year stands at €2.6 billion. This is a significant budget to meet the very important needs of our citizens with disabilities. All of this being said, I am still aware of the reality because I experience it in my constituency. These very large figures make some services available to our citizens with disabilities that they really value but I see myself that other services they need are not available in the way they and I would want. I can only acknowledge this reality.