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

I will start with the disability participation awareness fund, DPAF. That money was first secured four budgets ago. Never before in the Department of Health had funding been secured for anything other than a health need. That funding was got on the basis that it is not all about health needs. When I got that funding, the first piece of it started at about €2 million. A lot of work went in just to secure it. It was all about the awareness of the training piece because I felt a lot of that was missing. In the first round of that funding it was about giving it to the local authorities. My vision for it at the time was not about the training and awareness but about the participation side of it. I was looking at it through the lens of universal design.

We were coming out of the Covid period when a lot of greenways and footpaths were being done. I asked if there was enough funding there so that they could finish different jobs to ensure accessibility so people could participate. It was amazing that when the money went out to the local authorities, on average they all got about €87,000. Some 70% of it came back in indicating they all needed training and awareness on it. That was not really what it was all intended for. I know that Ability West in Galway got a wheelchair buggy. They also looked at putting in a changing space along the promenade. That as well as the training and awareness should have been what it was about. I had always envisaged that the money would go through the local authorities because they would ensure they had the extra piece of equipment for their playgrounds, but they did not get what the vision behind that was or they did not read the memo, I do not know which.

The second time it came around, I was getting out and about more. I saw the organisations the Deputy talked about that were doing wonderful projects but may not have been getting the recognition because they did not have a big backroom team. They were not any of the main providers and they did not have any of those resources. The first thing I would have thought about was the Together Academy, which is based here in Dublin. It is about Down's syndrome children trying to access education and become baristas. They actually had a memo that they could share with all the different Down's syndrome organisations around the country. Maybe they needed support as to how to scale that and how to present it. That is what it started to evolve into.

Then there was the cultural piece relating to connecting arts here in Dublin where during the Covid pandemic online art was being provided for it. The great thing about that is they were supporting approximately 50 individuals in the Dublin area. They were able to get on the bus and come in from Stewarts Care or St. Michael's, do their art and do their yoga. However Marion was doing it on nothing. Everybody was getting money for day services but Marion was getting nothing at all for supporting the service. That is where that went to.

There was a really good example with No Barriers in Donegal this year. It had a gym and was supporting everybody. It was a completely inclusive gym. Everybody could participate in it. However, there were OTs or physiotherapists working in it. It was buying equipment in response to the needs of people using its gym, which meant it was attracting more people. It was very successful in getting funding through the rethink programme of the DPAF for those with Down's syndrome in Donegal. It was about how we can teach other young people around the country about how they can participate. That funding is at €3.5 million. I hear exactly what the Deputy is saying on it.

Last year I had a line in it on transition planning. It had a very poor uptake. It seemed there was a lack of understanding about what transition planning looked like within the community. I am trying to look at employment and transition planning and awareness within it. I sit down and talk to the team in Rethink. I do not have any involvement nor does the Department. It is good to step back and look objectively at the organisations that are out there. I was very clear that the funding could not go to organisations that are already well supported through the HSE or were being funded by various LEADER programmes or anything else like that. I wanted it to be about the community within the community and participation. That was what it was about. We are seeing some brilliant projects but they might never get the eye of any Department or the HSE as to the value they had to the community and, most importantly, for individuals themselves.

The Deputy asked about resources for mental health. There is a document called the national access policy, NAP, where primary care mental health and disability should all be working very closely together. In some areas it works really well. In some areas it is not so good and in others some would say it is not good at all. Once a month the six RHOs sit down to assess and discuss cases that need assistance. There should be no wrong door. There should be one front door and that team should be able to signpost along. The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, has launched certain apps to support children with ADHD in that space.

The Deputy spoke about marginalised communities. Earlier today I attended a commemoration for the 80th anniversary of the genocide of the Romani community. The education strategy for the anti-Traveller and anti-migrant piece was launched in July. That will be very important for us all knowing each other's culture and all appreciating everybody else's values.

I apologise that I cannot remember the Deputy's last question.