Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome my constituency colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, and wish her well in the role. I have done so already in the Dáil. We will work together for the benefit of people with disabilities. The same applies with regard to the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman. The committee was established so that we can hold the Ministers to account. However, as well as observing, we will contribute in a positive way to ensure that, at the end of this Dáil, we will be able to look back and say we did something positive which had an effect on people's lives. As a Deputy from a rural constituency, I have come across many things that one would not be proud of as a politician.

Deputy Hourigan made a point about primary care services being suspended. The motorised transport and mobility grants were suspended in 2013. There is great concern that suspending this scheme will keep it in abeyance for a long time. When the scheme is reviewed, it should be expanded to make sure the grants are given to the people who need it. The rules around the scheme have been questionable. It has taken a mother to bring the Department to the High Court to prove it was a shambles. When I asked a question in the Dáil, I was told it was up to the Minister to review the scheme. It is important that the Minister engage with Department of Finance to ensure the necessary steps are taken to get the scheme going again.

The Minister of State will be aware that there are no overnight respite services available for children in Galway. If parents want a respite night, their child has to go to Limerick. That is not acceptable in this day and age. Is the €100 million for providing respite services capital funding or will it be used as current expenditure?

On transport, the Minister referred to a reduction of the notice period for DART and train users and improved accessibility in train and bus stations. That is commendable but there are many places in my constituency that do not have a bus service, a bus station or a bus stop. We do not have proper support for people with disabilities in rural areas. Only a month ago, a local councillor was ferrying people into a service in Galway because the service provider and the HSE could not provide the transport to a necessary service. The service is available and has been assessed as needed. I hope that when the Department has been knitted together, there will be joined up thinking to prevent that kind of farce happening again.

The carer's allowance is a marvellous scheme but it can take 15 weeks after application for a decision, which is invariably a refusal. It might take another five or six weeks for a review and a successful outcome. That is wrong. We talk about cross-departmental work and the Cabinet. This issue needs to be examined by the Department of Social Protection. There is no need for applications to take 15 weeks to assess. The application process is simple and applications should be processed in a more realistic timeframe. I accept that the payment is backdated but that is of little comfort to people who have to provide care for 20 weeks because they feel trapped when they do not know what they will get. Caring at home and the carer's allowance save the State money.

Housing was mentioned. The local authorities administer the mobility aid and housing adaptation grants. They do a great job but the money is very small and the local authorities receive a limited budget. When the Minister of State speaks to the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, that matter should be examined. If someone with a child with a lifelong disability is building a house, he or she will want to build a house that suits the child. It might cost an additional €50,000 or €60,000 but there is no funding available other than a mobility aid grant from the local authority, which would not cover a fraction of that cost. That needs to be considered in the context of the €2.1 billion being spent on services.

I have a major gripe about cases involving children who are born blind. Each time parents make an application for a grant or additional service, they must prove that their child is blind. There is something wrong with the system. This unnecessary requirement creates considerable bureaucracy. It is very demoralising and drags down parents when they have to go through this process every time they look for something for a child who is blind from birth and is permanently blind. Amputees must also have to provide proof over and over again. A change of attitude is required across government to address this.

There are many challenges. Putting on my Committee on Budgetary Oversight hat, my main point is that when we spend money or plan to spend money, for example, the €100 million I referred to, can the committee be given a breakdown of where it is being spent? We could then see where it is being spent and examine outputs. That is important. We spend a lot of money on health but we find it hard to see how it is being spent and where the return is because the sums involved are so big. Large sums are being spent in the area of disability. I hope that, together, we will achieve greater efficiency and better outcomes for those who need it. Work being done on employability is to be commended. The targets are in place. We should have targets and try to meet them in both the public and private sectors.