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

I absolutely guarantee that the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, is leading the way on this and is committed to working with the Government as a whole to make improvements in this area. There are a lot of additional financial resources for disability. The total budget for the year coming is going to be €2.4 billion, with €11 million or €12 million being provided specifically to improve waiting times when it comes to an assessment of need. We accept that there is a problem and it is something we are working on. We are providing substantial additional financial resources. However, there are challenges, including those relating to recruiting and retaining staff, which the Deputy mentioned, and which are by no means unique to this country. There are also challenges with getting the systems right and ensuring that we get the therapies children need as soon as possible.

It is disappointing that the Deputy used his time to only come up with one solution to this problem, namely, his party being in government.

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