Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

This is the next big crisis in the health service. It has been brewing for a number of years. We know the Minister of State is due to meet the representatives of Rehab today. I presume the Government will find the €2 million required; if not, it will have a serious problem. Three thousand people are affected, 222 of whom are in my county, which is the largest number in any county in Ireland.

There is a bigger issue behind the disability sector and section 39 funding. Funding alone is simply not enough. I want to state publicly in the Dáil that I believe there is a deficit across section 39 organisations which are dealing with the disability sector. Collectively, they are operating with a deficit of approximately €30 million. That raises a range of issues. Some of these organisations have got advanced loans from the HSE. That shows the scale of the issue involved. There are also questions related to operations and company law and how the HSE is working with them on this. These are serious issues. This is about to explode.

The Minister of State is reacting today rather than having dealt with the issue during the past number of years. The Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, which all these organisations came under in 2016, and we all know the issues related insurance costs, has escalated the expense and cost involved for all these organisations. We all know these organisations effectively are doing what the State should be doing but they are not being provided with enough funding. This is a crisis that is about to explode. The Minister of State need not tell me that he was not told about it. I can guarantee him that this is about to happen in the coming months.

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