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

I thank Senator McGreehan. There is no doubt the dial is moving but the pace of it is another thing. It is wonderful to be getting funding from the taxpayer that ultimately, gives me the money to provide to the HSE which then provides it to the various stakeholders to operationalise it. I am privileged to be able to secure funding but getting it operationalised is a huge challenge, as is following the money. There can be no denying that. I do my job, which is to secure funding and I work with the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, and previously with the then Minister, Michael McGrath, to ensure that we get as much money as possible. Over time, I have learned how difficult it is to get it operationalised and to follow the money and at the same time, realise the challenges of the sustainability of the sector as a whole. Recruitment and retention are also major issues. Moving Department was an excellent thing because it allows for a sole focus on disability. When we want to look at it through the lens of the UNCRPD, we look at the person and we do not see the disability. We see the life approach to the person; the needs from the start, if it is a child born with a congenital condition. We look at the different life stages and transition points on it.

We need to ensure there is funding and awareness at the different transition points. We are poor in some areas of this awareness and some of these transition points. We should not be. Transition planning should be absolutely clearly understood from the early years into junior infants, from sixth class to first year and also going on to third level and from there to day services. With transition planning, if we know that the child has been within the system and there have been great relationships with the parents all the way through, planning in July for what is going to happen in August is not progress, as far as I am concerned. We need to look at this. It is one of those pieces which involves the lens and moving Departments. We have a wonderful team with a person looking after the UNCRPD, a person looking after respite care and a person who is sitting here who is following the money. The team is wider than that but it needs to be matched in the HSE to allow us to have bilateral conversations. That is a really important piece, because maybe we did not have this broad approach that was crystallising down to consider whether it was UNCRPD approved, is the funding going to where it is supposed to be going, are we following the commitments we gave to the taxpayer in our budget day regarding whether the money was spent on the line for which it was obtained and going to the target measure it was intended for, and is that clearly understood across all Departments. That starts with the early years Department and the Department of Health all the way through it. The point about understanding has already been brought up in relation to the Department of Social Protection and ensuring they understand what that condition is that has come before them. There also needs to be an understanding within the Department of Education of the different transition points. The question needs to be asked as to why we are only starting to plan in July for somebody who needs to go to day service or for personal assistant support for someone who is transitioning to college. This should be done in fifth year. We do career guidance planning for everybody who is planning their third step into third level. We should be treating all our children equally in having the same transition point planning.

Then it goes on to housing and universal design. When designing for the public realm we need to ensure that the seven principles of universal design are applied. We then go into the area of transport. There is a lot of work to be done in the Department to make completely bullet proof the optional protocol on the UNCRPD. I do not think any Department is perfect.

Regarding the Senator's question on respite care in CHO 8, this is the most complex CHO in the country because it was divided up into Louth-Meath, Offaly-Laois and, help me out here, there was-----