Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. Aids and appliances are a priority of mine. A total of €540 million is spent every year on aids and appliances and yet I hear about children outgrowing their wheelchairs, not getting access to their shoes and not getting timely assessments for the right equipment. The point I am making is we need to work with education within disability. Within my own Department, we need to hold our own budget to support education, so it is coming through the one stream. Maybe there should be a centralised approach, as opposed to having 91 different fiefdoms, as well as working with our partners in education, special education and in the early years sector. If a child needs it at the beginning, then more than likely the service and intervention will need to continue. A piece I would like to look at, and I have talked to the Taoiseach about it, is our not reusing things. We could bring it back, get it serviced and get that whole recycling piece put into it. I am looking at that very clearly.