Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

The cutbacks are already happening. When the Taoiseach talks about corrective action, this is what he is talking about. Let us be clear about it. Is this the corrective action about which he is talking? People with disabilities finishing school need a day service, but they are being told the HSE has no money. There was a story in one of yesterday's newspapers stating the HSE had diverted €75 million from these services to plug a hole elsewhere. This is the position to which the Taoiseach has brought us.

There will be much talk today about the economy, figures, Exchequer returns — billions this and that. However, it all comes down to the worries that people will have over the summer about whether their son or daughter will get a service in a day care centre, or the worry of a young woman about whether her personal assistant will be taken away. Can the Taoiseach say where the bottom line on all of this is when he talks of corrective action? Can the Taoiseach give an assurance to those parents that their children will have the services they had hoped for next year? Can he give an assurance to that young woman that her personal assistant will not be taken away.

Terms such as corrective action are all very well — they are economy-speak and political-speak. However, what matters to people is whether they get the services they need. When the Taoiseach talks about painful adjustments, who will bear the pain? Is it these parents and these people with disabilities?

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