Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

-----as well as the €10 cut to child benefit. Other promises to the people of the north side of Dublin were broken. Those Deputies had the brass neck to claim they prevented cuts to education and health. Tell that to those in receipt of services for the disabled, funding for which was cut by 3% last week, or to the 350 profoundly deaf children on the waiting list for life-changing implants. The €11 million cut to post-leaving certificate courses hit the most disadvantaged. Deputies should stop spinning the truth and own up to their cuts and false promises. It is gombeen politics at its worst.

Today, the Government spent €244,741 on a website for the EU Presidency. Including other expenses, the total was in the region of €330,194.71. This would be enough to restore the full respite care grant to more than 1,000 people. Do not talk about a lack of funds when such amounts are being wasted. Most Deputies know that one could get a website for between €3,000 and €4,000. It is time for the Government to get real.

The cut of 3% to front-line services for the disabled will have a devastating effect in 2013. It is the untold story of the budget. On the ground, services at St. Michael's House will lose €5 million in 2013. The Government should not lecture us about protecting the vulnerable. It has turned its back on the vulnerable. Even the IMF has asked it to ease off in the past 24 hours. This is the reality on the ground and is the subject matter of the motion. The Technical Group Members, from all political backgrounds, have united in this motion to stand with the country's carers.

Last week saw the scandal of a Labour Member - I believe it was Deputy Nolan - telling his parliamentary party meeting that the only people who cared about the carers in Galway were the carers themselves. That was an appalling statement for a Member of any party to make in the broader debate. It is important that these matters be made public. The Government has let carers down.

In this motion, the Technical Group acknowledges the fact that full-time family carers are expert care partners and, as such, should be treated with the dignity and respect they deserve. Carers have the right to have their own health needs met. We call on the Government to reverse immediately the cut to the respite care grant that was announced in budget 2013. We ask that provision be made "from within the special delivery unit budget allocation to incorporate carer induction training and needs assessment prior to a patient being discharged". We also ask that the backlog in carer's allowance applications be eliminated by early 2013. I urge all Deputies to support carers, the disabled, senior citizens and, above all, this motion.

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