Mr. Mark O'Connor:

The Department of Health will probably be responsible for funding. The HSE carries out functions for the State but only goes as far as the funding can take it. As I understand it, the HSE has been told that no additional funding is available for additional staff. That is why at a quite early stage we called on the Minister to restore service to pre-existing levels. If that requires a temporary Covid-19 fund, so be it.

We have spoken about the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. That envisages people being involved in their everyday communities. There is a HSE policy on this, New Directions. That should give people choice around education, employment and making progress in their lives. It has not been fully implemented. If any new funding is available it should be channelled in the ways called for by New Directions. That does not necessarily mean people having to go to a big centre somewhere. As Dr. McCarthy said earlier, a lot of people work a couple of days a week. They can be supported to go from their homes to their places of employment. If they are accessing an education course in the community, they can be helped to do that from their homes. This does not always have to involve travelling to a big centre. Additional funding is certainly needed to restore the previous levels of service.