Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach said the disability convention Bill is on Second Stage. While I am happy to hear that, it has taken ten years to get there. That is a long time for people with disabilities to be waiting. The bottom line is that the Taoiseach says I should contact the Minister of State, but these services should be available to those with disabilities already. The fact is that if one has a child with severe disabilities who is 18, he or she is not entitled to a free transport service to day-care centres. If that child is a day younger than 18, he or she will get a free transport service. That is a fact. I have been approached by parents all over west Cork and Kerry and there are probably others throughout Ireland. Parents have been travelling on a daily basis from Bandon, Bantry and Skibbereen to and from the service in Cork, which is a twice daily journey. I have met with those parents and spent time discussing the matter with them. I have been in contact with the HSE but I cannot succeed in getting people to sit around the table despite the fact that we still have a situation in which buses with only one or two people on board are passing very close to these centres already. It is simply a matter of people sitting down and using their heads. There must be a policy that can be applied. Does the Government have a policy to provide a free bus service to day-care centres for children or adults with disabilities after the age of 18? Is that a factor?

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