Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I will stick to the issue of disability. The Enough is Enough group will be protesting shortly to highlight the urgent need to reopen disability day services. People with disabilities must get back to full services for their own sake but also to relieve the enormous stress on family carers. At the same time, the Taoiseach must accept that the organisations that provide most of those disability services face a complete lack of certainty about their core funding.

The Taoiseach referenced the €20 million cut that was announced last January and said it has been put to one side. I want clarification on that. Several promises have been made over the past six months. That so-called efficiency cut was announced, of course, before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Prior to the general election, Fianna Fáil committed to reversing that cut. The Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, said that the bottom line is that the cut must be withdrawn. I asked the Minister about that proposed €20 million cut last week and he told me that he did not know whether it was going ahead. We know that the then Minister, Deputy Harris, said absolutely that the cut was to be removed. He said he wanted to provide the organisations with peace of mind with a letter confirming that the cut is gone. However, we know from listening to disability organisations that they are hearing on the ground that the HSE intends to proceed with that cut. The cut is not gone.

I want the Taoiseach to confirm that he is committed to reversing that €20 million cut. I also want him to commit to providing confirmation of that in writing today to the organisations involved. I further want him to send a clear message to the HSE instructing it not to proceed with the cuts. What the Taoiseach said earlier about that €20 million has not been borne out by what is happening currently on the ground.

The other point the Taoiseach should clarify relates to the substantial additional costs that disability organisations will incur in reopening services, observing social distancing and all the other issues associated with compliance with health advice while reopening services as a matter of urgency. What is the total fund that the Government will provide in order to facilitate the reopening of disability services in the context of Covid and meeting all of those additional costs?

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