John Dolan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Okay. Joke over. Back to work. There is always the morning after.

The Minister referred to budget 2018, additional front-line staff for the health service, disability and other areas. He included disability services when discussing better access to health services and mentioned that budget funding would be targeted on, for example, supporting disability services. How will we verify that that is happening? Maybe the HSE service plan sets it out. How do we get from those statements of intent to what they mean on the ground?

I will be very blunt. People with disabilities or with mental health needs in this country do not actually believe that things are getting better. I am not talking about whether things are getting better. I am just saying that people do not see it, believe it or feel it. It is all about giving reassurance. I have a number of questions but we are not going to be able to deal with them in detail this morning. There are 1,200 young people in nursing homes, but the great majority of them could and should be supported in community settings. I am also concerned about the issue of personal assistants, as well as section 38 and section 39 bodies. These are only some of the relevant issues. There are others in the area of mental health, such as the neurological strategy and so on. There is no need to rehearse all of that now.

I am concerned about whether the extra funding that is being provided for health is enough to meet the additional demands. Are we pumping water out faster than it is going in? That is a real issue and people do not feel that we have turned the corner and are moving in the right direction. It is important that assurances are given and that we can verify that through the work plans for next year and the following years.

The way we are dealing with matters this morning is less than ideal. I ask that the Minister and his officials would come back for a coherent session. The budget has just been announced and this is an important time in the year for getting ourselves organised for next year.