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

The Government decided this morning that we would not oppose the Sinn Féin motion on hospital overcrowding. We want to be in solutions mode and will discuss solutions. For this reason, we will table an amendment, but will not oppose the motion. We hope the debate on the matter this week will be solutions-focused, something I believe we all want.

The proposal Deputy Gerry Adams made to me before Christmas did not add up because, as he knows, Sinn Féin's alternative budget proposed a smaller increase in funding for health and disability services than we had allocated. We responded in kind, which is more important, by providing an extra €10 million for respite care services in the year ahead.

Later this year we will also provide a statutory right for all those in receipt of carer's allowance to see their general practitioner for free. This comes on top of our decision last year to provide all children with a severe disability with a full medical card as a statutory right for the first time.

I was asked about the report on the case of Molly. Tusla and the HSE accept the Ombudsman for Children's report in full and are committed to implementing its recommendations. I know that the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Finian McGrath, with whom I discussed the matter this morning and the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Katherine Zappone, take the findings very seriously. The investigation highlights a gap in the provision and co-ordination of supports and services by Tusla and the HSE for children in foster care with a diagnosed moderate or severe disability. We all respect and value the role of foster carers, particularly foster parents who take on children with special needs, additional needs or disabilities. The report published by the Ombudsman for Children on the complaint which was made in 2014 by a foster carer on behalf of her foster daughter is of real concern to the Government. Action is already under way, including a review of the supports available to Molly and monitoring her care to ensure her needs will be met into the future. Furthermore, Tusla and the HSE are reviewing all similar cases of children with moderate or severe disabilities who are in foster care with a view to maximising the level of co-ordination, co-operation and support. There must be many other Mollys and we want to ensure the State agencies will review all similar cases.

We must continue to support foster carers who, like Molly's family, have opened their homes to children who cannot live with their own families. As I mentioned prior to Christmas, we provided an additional €10 million for respite care services to support people with disabilities throughout the State and their carers. A joint working protocol has been agreed between Tusla and the HSE. It has been in place since last year and is to ensure Tusla and the HSE will work more closely together. However, it only came into effect on 1 January this year, only a number of days ago. Both agencies are absolutely committed to ongoing implementation of the protocol throughout the country.

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