Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for these figures. While some of them are preliminary in nature - the usage figure for this year obviously must be extrapolated - from what the Minister of State has suggested, there has been an element of fall-off in usage. I suggest to her that this probably is in line with a fall-off in the funding and therefore, while I wish the Minister of State well in her new role, I urge her to fight the good fight, as it were, as the Minister of State, Deputy Ring, has done in respect of sports funding. He has continued to make the case today and does so on a regular basis. Now that there is a level of growth in the economy, I similarly encourage the Minister of State, who hopefully will get the support of backbenchers in both parties, to ensure that both the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, and the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, are in a position to give some additional funding to try to get the programme back to where it was, notwithstanding the cost savings that are being made. It is vitally important that the spread and diversity of effort be maintained because so many people still need this service, for whom the reach and the extensions are not available. It is vital, but it will require more money. I hope the Minister of State wins the battle.

See this speech in context