Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I join with my colleagues, and in particular our spokesperson on health and disability, Deputy Kelleher, in supporting this motion. We are asking the Government to stick to the pledges it made in the programme for Government to protect disability funding and ensure that those who most require such support are provided with it. I remind the Minister of State that the programme for Government is committed to ensuring that the quality of life of people with disabilities is enhanced and that the resources allocated reach those who need them. The programme is also committed to facilitating people with disabilities in order to achieve a greater level of participation in employment, training and education. Unfortunately, however, in the 18 months since taking office we have not seen the Minister of State live up to those commitments.

While we know it is a difficult task in the current environment and these things are not easily done, we are asking the Minister of State to stand by that pledge in the programme for Government to ensure that funding for the disabled is not cut and that they will be supported as necessary. We have put together our own pre-budget submission which does ensure such funding. We accept the fact that there needs to be a €3.5 billion adjustment in the national spend this year, but we have ring-fenced a few important key areas which we feel need to be protected. They are education, mental health services and disability services, which is the subject of our Private Members' motion. We have taken hard decisions elsewhere in the budget in order to achieve the required targets. I do not underestimate the difficulty in putting a budget together but we are asking the Government to ensure that this happens in tomorrow's budget. We should not see the same mistakes being repeated that we have seen recently.

Over the last 12 months many people with disabilities have been concerned about cuts. They have had reason to worry. In last year's budget the Minister attempted to remove the disability allowance from those aged 16 to 18. Fortunately, due to pressure from many Deputies, including many in the Labour Party, that decision was rolled back on. It was not consistent with what had been promised in the programme for Government.

It has become increasingly difficult for the families of those aged under 18 to get the domiciliary care allowance. In the first six months of this year, 63% of all applications for the domiciliary care allowance have been refused. Up to half of applications for children with autism have been refused. Such families have additional strenuous care needs, which are required for their children. In many instances, it makes it more difficult for them to work and carry out everyday duties. The domiciliary care allowance is there to assist them with the support their children need. Unfortunately, the Government has adopted an approach of stealth, making it more difficult for those in need of the payment to receive it.

The position of people leaving secondary education and seeking to continue in further education demonstrates a failure to deliver on promises in the programme for Government.

I refer to the position that obtained at the end of last year, where of the 700 people who were continuing on to further education, 57 young adults had not secured places by the end of August. These young adults were left in a position in which they had no security regarding what would be their next step. These are young adults who depend on Members at State level to ensure places are available and who will find themselves in similar positions in the future, unless Members can ensure the necessary hard steps are taken to ring-fence the funding and resources required to cater for their needs.

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