Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Dara Murphy for his questions. There is no question of me disputing the ruling of the Ombudsman. I am very supportive and understanding of this issue.

The resources argument is a big argument for us all. What I have found in recent discussions on the Estimates, as Deputy Murphy will know as a former Minister of State, is that when there is a certain amount of money coming into the pot, one is very conscious of what the priority issues might be. That is something that happens every day, and every day I see crises in emergency residential care in the HSE and across different sections in the disability services. The resolution of those problems can be very costly. Resources will always be a problem.

As for my personal views, of course I want to move the legislation forward and I am doing it behind the scenes, but I must also make the point that other issues arose at times which were very high priority and I had to make a decision about funding them. There are currently 4,700 people in receipt of mobility allowances to keep them going until we resolve this issue. If it is expanded, what numbers are we talking about? Some have suggested that the figures could be much more than that, up to 8,000 or 9,000 people. My view is that if we have a certain amount of resources, we should target them at the most needy and the poorest in society. In this case, my focus will be on anyone with a disability who is isolated and does not have much money in their pocket. That is my decision.

On the numbers and money, the Deputy will probably have seen in the budget yesterday that the health area budget was allocated €1.763 billion for 2018. That compares with €1.688 billion allocated for the national service plan for 2017. That is not enough, but when I went into negotiations seeking an extra €100 million, there was €50 million on the table and we managed to agree on €75 million. The game is not over and I am constantly pushing for resources. I will not go into the details of individual cases, but, as an example, there was an emergency case recently where a family had to be given 90 hours a week of home supports and respite services which involved huge costs. The HSE and I have to deal with those crisis situations every day. Sometimes one has to sit down and select categories and priorities. More broadly, I am very supportive of this Bill. I accept the ruling of the Ombudsman and I regularly work closely with the Ombudsman on those issues.