Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

-----but they have stood up in a fantastic way. I particularly thank everybody involved with the Dáil 100 commemorations that occurred during this session. I hope when we return in September the Houses will be fully restored and the building will be back in good shape. As the Ceann Comhairle is fond of saying, I hope everyone takes a break during the recess.

I refer to the issue of a HSE decision to scrap the rehabilitative training allowance for people with disabilities. I listened to the Tánaiste's earlier responses to the question I asked about home help and the question Deputy O'Reilly asked about psychiatric services. It struck me that the Government has no sense of the serious situation within our health service that is affecting day-to-day services for families. This is another example. This allowance is €31.80 per week per student, designed to help people with disabilities to develop work, life and social skills. That amount makes a considerable difference to these people and the HSE has decided to scrap it without any recourse or explanation. I fear this is typical of what is going to happen over the next few weeks. Issues such as this will be swept under the carpet when the Dáil is not sitting and the HSE will not be controllable or accountable to anybody. I want the Tánaiste to comment specifically on this allowance and to give some indication that the Government understands and has some interest in how serious things are in every single aspect of our health services.

See this speech in context