Mr. Colm ? Conaill:

It was an oversight on my part, but I intended to introduce my colleagues who are here. Mr. Brunell heads up our disability equality policy team. Mr. Doran is from our children’s services team. Ms Fitzgerald is our disability adviser and expert on all things relating to disability. I will let Mr. Doran come in on children’s services and the emergency side of things.

Independent living involves a very broad scope. There are two main aspects the Minister, Deputy O’Gorman and the Minster of State, Deputy Rabbitte, outlined it to the members who attended the meeting of the Select Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth relating to the Estimates. The first of the two aspects to which I refer is that we need significantly increased investment. There is a large scale of unmet need that is set out in the disability capacity review. The Deputy’s example of personal assistance is crucial to supporting people to live independent lives. The Government has put in increases in the area of personal assistance in recent years. There have been significant increases between home support and personal assistance, but there is no doubt that there is also significant unmet need. We are engaging with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform. This afternoon we will have our first meeting with it in respect of the action plan. We need a significant increase in investment in this regard.

Another important thing is to change the way services are delivered. In fairness to the HSE and its partners, a process and a programme of change is under way in the context of transforming lives. We need to continue that and accelerate it in order to make it more person centred. It is there in day services becoming more person centred and individualised; personalised budgets were mentioned. It is also there in the context of personal assistance and the need to increase the supports relating thereto. There is a broad range, but the two key pillars for us relate to the action plan and the new national disability strategy, and how we can accelerate implementation of UNCRPD in the follow-on strategy to the existing national disability inclusion strategy, particularly after the transfer of function on 1 March.

I will ask Mr. Doran to address the points on emergency care on the children’s side.