Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)

I am surprised the Government has not asked the National Disability Authority about this. It is an independent statutory authority. I would have expected the Government to have asked it. Also, as an independent statutory authority, I would have expected the authority to take the initiative itself on advising the Government on this issue. This is not an issue that arose yesterday or the day before. I recall raising it back in 2017 and I was certainly not the first to do so. It was quite clear then that this was a serious issue and it was only going to get worse. It is unusual, is it not, that the Government did not ask the authority and the authority did not take the initiative to advise the Government on such an important issue in this area.