Dr. Joanne McCarthy:

This has become an issue and is blocking people. However, the extent of it is anecdotal at the moment. We have sought funding to do some work to uncover the real situation but we will look into the matter. We would appreciate any member using any avenue to raise the issue and shed some more light on the matter.

In terms of special needs, the Deputy was right that we do refer to it in one area. As was said, the big issue is the availability of special needs assistants and the increase in need. Mainstreaming has taken hold. It happens more successfully in education where people more frequently enter into mainstream education either through mainstream school or in a supported environment in a mainstream school.

This increased rate of entrance is not being balanced with the number of special needs assistants. In our submission, the Disability Federation of Ireland states that in light of this development, it is time to review the purpose of the SNA and we are asking for a dual approach.

To revert to Deputy Joan Collins, while listening to her, a concept the DFI has been seeking for a while came into my head, namely, that of having a commitment in which we begin to look at developing a comprehensive plan for redeveloping social infrastructure. I think members are hearing different bits of it from everyone in attendance today. We need a commitment in this budget or we need to see that this budget offers us the beginning of a commitment to the redevelopment of a comprehensive social infrastructure. In this regard, Mr. John Dolan has uncovered some interesting statistics recently. For example, one in eight people will acquire a disability, 120 babies will be born next year with Down's syndrome, and a further 120 will be born with a significant need. Similarly, 250 of us will develop multiple sclerosis next year, 4,000 will develop Alzheimer's, and the list goes on. Disability will hit us all as we all are getting older. We need to know that services are in place and are being planned for. It is known that our demographics will help us and we seek budgets to use this information to begin to plan for much more responsive services that will lessen the impact on individuals and families. This is what our submission and I am sure those of others are trying to do here today. I do not know whether I have answered everyone's questions.