Marie Moloney (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I could not disagree with most of what has been said here today because we all know that every man, woman and child has been affected over the last few years, people with disabilities and people without them. I appreciate that Mr. Dolan and Dr. McCarthy have done a huge amount of work for people with disabilities. At every opportunity Mr. Dolan is advocating for people with disabilities. We spoke about the mobility allowance and the transport grant. I made a detailed submission into the working group. I do not know if any other members did so.

My concern is that the payment will be taken away and a transport scheme put in its place. While that might sound well to someone living in the heart of Dublin, Galway or Cork city, it is no good for someone coming from a rural area like I do in Kerry or from the Iveragh Peninsula. For a young person there, transport might not be available to take them home. If they have a few bob in their pocket, because of the grant, then they can hire a taxi. While the payment is still in place, new applicants cannot apply. I would like to have more changes to the payment but, unfortunately, the Ombudsman, has ruled on it.

Mr. John Dolan and Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh referred to problems with access to Intreo offices for those with disabilities, which is very serious. There is the supported employment service in place for people with disabilities through the Intreo offices. There should be no reason why people with disabilities would not be helped in the Intreo offices to get back into employment, as well as grants and assistance for employers to take on people with disabilities. If Mr. John Dolan’s members are encountering problems, he should bring them to the fore and highlight them so they can be rectified.

Ms Hayes said there were increases in prices of some hotels, restaurants and food outlets of approximately 8%. There should be a decrease of 8% as the Government has reduced the VAT rate to 9% in the hospitality trade. I found prices in my area on menus went down once the reduced VAT rate was introduced.

The requests made by the delegations are reasonable. However, we know that in the real world everything cannot be restored in one budget. There are several issues which have been raised that I will bring to the attention of the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection and the Minister for Education and Skills. Mr. John Dolan was in the Seanad Chamber last week when we moved a motion on access to education for people with disabilities. I am seeking to have the age cap on special schools abolished. As it stands, children with special needs cannot continue their education in special schools when they reach a certain age but have to go into the Health Service Executive, HSE, which does not have the same structured education programmes.

I must point out to the delegations that these cuts were not introduced by this Government alone but by successive Governments. I have to take up the point made on cuts to special needs assistants, SNAs. There have been no cuts to SNAs. Between 2010 and 2011, there were 10,328 SNAs; between 2011 and 2012, 10,487; and between 2013 and 2013, 10,656. So far this year, 10,900 SNAs are in place. Their numbers have increased every year. I accept there may be growing demand for SNAs which means some children may not get access to them. However, there have been no cuts to the numbers. It is the same with resource and learning supports. They now stand at the highest level they have even been. People with disabilities, thankfully, are living longer due to better care. This means demands on disability services are increasing.

I will put the issues raised to the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection. However, not everything can be delivered in one go and there is no point in pretending they can. I will ask her to prioritise some of these requests.