Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It boggles me to hear the Taoiseach refer to a sunset clause because this cohort of 5,000 people will never see sunrise or sunset. They will be locked in their homes. This was a very specialised grant. The legal issue has been known for five years. The Ombudsman brought it to the last Government's attention. The Taoiseach promised a new era of transparency. He has known about this for two years. To come to the House to tell us that this is being done on foot of the Attorney General's advice forces me to ask what the Attorney General has been doing for the last two years. What were the last Attorneys General doing? Will their pensions be cut if they were misleading the country? This is farcical in the extreme.

Does the Taoiseach know what it means to people on the margins who do not have transport to make a simple journey to the shop, mass or the doctor? Are there people in the Departments of the Taoiseach, Health or Social Protection with a disability to give Ministers an understanding? When this was mooted in 2009, a group of us approached the then Minister, Mary Hanafin, and insisted it was reversed. The issue arose again last summer when we were all on our holidays and disabled people had to come to the gates of Government Buildings and Leinster House to protest. I salute them because many were unfit but they came. The Taoiseach went back on it. Are there officials in the Departments who are constantly bringing this forward - "Here we come again"? As Deputy Gerry Adams said, there was no word of it yesterday when the Government was talking about its good deal on the banks. This issue slipped out again last night and the Government blamed the Ombudsman. Last summer, the Government blamed the troika. The troika had nothing to do with it as we all know. We know today it has nothing to do with the Ombudsman. I heard her tell the nation that on "Morning Ireland" this morning. All she wants is equality and parity of esteem for pensioners. Are they not entitled to it?

This is a very sad situation. In April 2012, disabled drivers and passengers were hit with a new charge of €135.30 payable to a new quango, the National Standards Authority of Ireland, or NSAI, in respect of individual vehicle approval certification. Another charge and another quango was imposed on those people. There has not been an increase in the level of support to disabled drivers since 1987. We have seen 26 years pass and a number of recessions, booms and busts without an increase in what can be claimed back in VRT or VAT. It has been 26 years and now the Government goes after this. These people were not represented at last week's talks. They were not at Croke Park the first or second time and will not be at Croke Park for the third agreement. They will not have Jack O'Connor and the other union representatives or the Labour Party to help them. Is the Labour Party going to make Mr. O'Connor an honorary member if the deal is passed?

See this speech in context