Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Workers and Unemployed Action Group) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and the officials from the Department and the HSE and I thank the Minister for her presentation. The final paragraph of that presentation is key to the disability area. Part of it is worth quoting: "[P]eople with disabilities have the same goals, aspirations and abilities as every other citizen, and the same right to participate in society, and to make a contribution". That is what we all wish to see happen in a reasonably short period of time.

We have been contacted by the Disability Federation of Ireland and we are very concerned about this area. The 600,000 people with disabilities do not consider that they were protected during the recession or that they were the priority social justice issue, as was promised by the current Taoiseach in the last week of the 2011 general election campaign. There is also serious concern in the disability community that not only was it not protected during the recession, but that it will be sidelined to some extent in the current situation where the economy appears to be recovering. That view is held by a significant number of people with disabilities and I hope the Minister and the Government take it on board. We have received correspondence about this from the Disability Federation of Ireland.

A series of issues is dealt with in the presentation. I wish to highlight and seek further information on three of them. On the issue of the transfer of persons with disability from congregated settings, I note that the HSE target for 2015 was to move approximately 150 but only 84 have taken place. Currently, there are 2,800 people in those settings. Perhaps the HSE representative could tell us what the plan is for moving people from these settings. What period of time is involved? If it continues to operate on the basis of 150 per year, it would be a considerable length of time before it would be addressed and finalised.

Regarding acquired brain injury, a significant number of people, approximately 10,000, acquire a brain injury every year. What services are available for people with acquired brain injury?

Finally, there is the issue of work. The entitlement of persons with disabilities to work and avail of training is a key concern of the disability community. It appears, and I am subject to correction on this, that the programmes under the Youth Guarantee scheme are not open to persons with disabilities or, indeed, those on illness payments. Similarly, the Momentum programme does not appear to be open to people with disabilities. Can the witnesses comment on that?