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

I thank Deputy Mitchell, who, as I know from my locality, has been very supportive on the issues of disabilities and the rights of people with disabilities. The Deputy is 100% right on the issue of accessibility, something Senator Buttimer raised as well. It is not acceptable. It is very difficult for those with a physical disability. Many with an intellectual rather than a physical disability have the bus pass and use services every day right across the city.

I disagree with Deputy Mitchell that we are nowhere near getting this resolved, because we have moved on. That said, I agree with her that we have not moved far enough. I agree also and can understand the frustration about this being slow. However, we have moved on, the Bill is ready to roll and we now have to finalise this with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. That is the stage we are at.

The other issue the Deputy raised, which is a very important one, is ring-fencing. That €9.3 million is ring-fenced and it will cover the 4,700 people with mobility needs. That is a very important sum of money that is left in the pot while we get the legislation over the line. This is in the programme for Government, and the Deputy is right to point that out. I will be saying this during talks and I am going to be upfront about it with my colleagues. It is in the programme for Government so why are we not moving strongly enough on this issue? While progress has been made, I accept my colleagues' frustration that it has not been fast enough. I know many individual cases between Mayo, Galway and Donegal that are in a really bad situation and they are not even getting part of the €9.3 million. Colleagues have mentioned that to me. I give a commitment that we will do our best to move it forward over the next couple of weeks and see if we can get a bit further.