Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I understand what the Senator is saying, but the evidence we have seen is that progress is being made in the implementation of the recommendations made by the committee. It is mainly up to the NTA, but on the whole I see real progress. Deputy Catherine Murphy has been good enough to say things are better now than they were 20 years ago. Many of us were probably slow to realise the importance of this issue or allocate funding to deal with it. When I see the acceleration in funding, I am surprised and somewhat shocked by how small it was before. I only woke up to how tiny it was when I became Minister. It is due to lots of lobbying and parties, including the Senator, the committee, the NTA and the Minister of State with special responsibility for people with disabilities, Deputy Finian McGrath. It is happening and can be nothing but good. We know that semi-State bodies are slow to move. What has happened is that they have moved to a point that probably could not have been envisaged 15, 20 or even ten years ago. The NTA will manage the retrofit programme. I will get details of projects and outcomes from it. I have said the figure is €28 million, broken down into sums of €4 million, €7 million, €7 million and €10 million. The three main grant areas are taxis, railway stations and bus stops.

I was interested in what the Senator had to say about the national disability insurance scheme, NDIS. We are in the third year of four and the review is only starting, something of which I was not aware. I will take up the matter.