Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy will appreciate that I am unable to comment on individual cases on which I do not have the details and that even if I do have the details of individual cases it is not possible for me to breach client or patient confidentiality without the permission of the client or patient to do so. That said, in regard to the case of Caoimh, the Minister for Health, Deputy Simon Harris, and the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, are very much aware of it and met this morning with officials from the HSE and the Department for an update on the discussions on residential placements. The HSE has been working on this case for some time and I understand that there will be further contact today with the young man's mother. We are informed that this is not a funding issue and that a residential placement will be funded once the application has been accepted. The HSE has been providing ongoing care to the family thus far in terms of home supports.

In regard to support for people with disabilities in general, it is important to acknowledge the work that is being done by the Minister for Health, Deputy Simon Harris, and the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath. There was a €90 million increase in funding for services for people with disabilities this year and an increase in the disability allowance for the first time in eight years. Children with severe disabilities, those in receipt of the domiciliary care allowance, for the first time now receive a medical card by right regardless of their parents' income, which acknowledges the enormous cost of health care for many parents with children with severe disabilities. Approximately 10,000 children who previously did not have a medical card now receive one by right and a further 40,000 no longer face reviews.

Decongregation is very much under way. This is happening in my own constituency and, I am sure, in Deputy Adams's constituency. Old institutions, where people with disabilities were kept in Florence Nightingale-style wards, are being closed and those people are being moved into community houses, which is much better accommodation than they had previously. Dedicated funding has been put in place for emergency placements, which is of crucial importance. An issue that had been a big problem in previous years, namely placements for school-leavers, has been improved dramatically. It is important to acknowledge that progress, which is very real and is being experienced by hundreds of people and their families every year.

There is, of course, always more work to be done and we acknowledge that. This week, for example, the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Deputy Regina Doherty, and the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, announced €10 million in funding for pre-activation supports for people with disabilities who might be able to move into employment. As this is an issue Deputy Adams has raised in this House many times, I hope he will take the opportunity to welcome that.

We acknowledge that there are two areas that will require additional investment in the years to come: first, respite, because respite provides a life line for families, giving them the break that they need while their loved one spends a period in respite and, second, the issue of people with disabilities who are living with parents who are now in their sixties and seventies and getting on in years and are understandably concerned about what will happen to their son or daughter with a disability who is still living with them when they pass on or they become unable to look after him or her. They are two areas that will require additional investment in the years ahead. However, it is important to acknowledge those many things done in this year alone to improve the lives of people with disabilities and, of course, their families.

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