Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I think it was Johanna Powell, one of the carers on the programme shown last evening, who said she did not want politicians to say anymore that they were full of respect, concern and admiration for her. She wants people to get angry and action. She does not want to hear more statistics and announcements that bear no relationship with reality. It is not that there are not sufficient respite care services; there are no respite care services. That came across clearly last evening and we all know it. We cannot get a respite care service for people who are in dire situations. I am not talking about those who need routine respite care - I hate using that phrase - but about emergency cases. Every case I have itemised is an emergency case. The service providers are now only dealing with emergency cases. The absence of respite care services is a shocking indictment of us all.

As I said, there are almost 5,000 people with intellectual disabilities who will require new residential, day and respite care services in the period from 2018 to 2021. A further 10,500 people who are availing of existing services will require different services in that period. It is estimated that up to €200 million in additional funding will be required, but the Minister for Health only received €75 million in additional funding. That covers Lansdowne Road agreement and service developments in the previous year and leaves very little for new, additional services. If the Government does not acknowledge that there is a crisis, it makes the challenge of dealing with it all the more difficult. I put it to the Taoiseach that it is about priorities. I acknowledge that we cannot do everything for everybody, but perhaps we should think again before we start saying we can give hundreds of millions of euro in tax relief to high income earners as opposed to looking after those who need us to look after them. Instead of leading on the former as a budgetary strategy for next year, how about leading on proper investment in public services of this kind? In the last two months I have identified quite a lot of services which are woefully lacking. No family should have to go through the distress they have gone and are going through and the programme last night was only an example of the crises families are going through.

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