Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick East, Fine Gael)

I should not need to raise this matter again as I first raised it on 1 July 2008. The Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children with responsibility for the disability sector, Deputy John Moloney, was in the House at that time. I mean no disrespect to the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Deputy Máire Hoctor, but I am disappointed she is present. The Minister of State, Deputy Moloney, should have been in the House this evening. I have made various representations on this matter. The Minister of State, Deputy Moloney, made a commitment during the debate that funding for nine adult day care places for nine school leavers at the Daughters of Charity, Lisnagry, Limerick would be dealt with within ten days, that is by 11 July 2008. Some 120 days later the funding still has not been paid. On 1 July the Minister of State, Deputy John Moloney, stated:

I understand the Health Service Executive will be able to finalise the position in respect of the commencement of developments including those required to meet the needs of school leavers with disabilities in the next 10 days. I suggest this should be sufficiently strong commitment to reassure the Deputy and all concerned.

I took the Minister of State at his word. I have made various representations on this matter. What has happened with this Government? The service provider, namely, the Daughters of Charity, went ahead and brought in agency workers to provide the service from 1 September. They sought a capital grant of €120,000 to convert a building and make it suitable for providing the adult day care facilities. Work is already under way using funds from the Daughters of Charity mainstream budget which is under pressure. Some two nurses, one supervisor and 1.5 care staff, or 4.5 staff in total, were required. The Daughters of Charity have provided the staff and the facility has been up-and-running since 1 September. Credit is due to the Daughters of Charity and not to the Government. It is a disgrace that I should have to raise this matter again in the Dáil and hold the Minister of State to account, given that such a small amount of money is required. The Minister of State, Deputy John Moloney, is not even in the Chamber.

It galls me that the parents of the children came to me as far back as late June to discuss the issue. They were concerned about who would look after their children. The Daughters of Charity were notified on 1 August, more than one month later, that they could proceed and take on the necessary staff. They still have not been told when they will be paid. They recruited the staff, but some three months or 89 days later, the funding is not in place.

In the broader context of funding for the disabled my understanding is that no payment has been made nationally under the disability development fund 2008, for which the Government provided €50 million in 2008. We are into the 11th month of the year and no funding had been paid. The service providers are providing the services from mainstream funding, not from ring-fenced funding for disability services. These service providers are worried that the Government will not provide the funding and when 2009 comes their allocation will be based on actual payments in 2008, rather than the payment to which they were entitled.

The actions of the Government relating to the disability allowance are horrendous and callous. It has taken away the disability allowance and replaced it with a domiciliary care allowance for young adults between 16 and 18 years of age. Parents can ill afford this change and it will cost them more than €13,600. I wish to hear from the Minister of State if funding for the nine school leavers to attend the Daughters of Charity centre has been paid, and if not, that it will be paid immediately.

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