Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Along with my colleagues, I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion this evening. I too congratulate and praise Deputy Tully on her tireless work in the area of disability services. The statistics and the lives behind the figures for disability services are truly stark. Some 17,000 children are waiting on initial contact with a children's disability network team. Some 2,500 are overdue for an assessment of needs. Accompanying that is an archaic IT system, which means none of us knows the true extent of the issue. When the parents, who are desperate, reach out, they are met with an endlessly ringing phone, one that is never answered. There is no engagement. There is not even any response to written correspondence. When the travel arrangements for adults with disabilities are simply no longer available, families and service users are left distraught.

Budget 2023 was the opportunity for the Government to prove that not only had it heard what those with disabilities and their supporters had said but that it had truly listened and taken it on board. That is a lost opportunity for which I fear those with disabilities will ultimately pay the price.

I will not go back over what my colleagues have said about the lack of investment, the failure to plan or the lack of multi-annual budgets, but I will make one ask of the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, this evening. She previously engaged with a group called Lough Ree Access for All. It is a very good group and the Minister of State knows what it is capable of. It is a truly inspiring group. Deputy Kerrane and I visited it recently, along with others, and we saw the amazing work the group has done to ensure that those with disabilities have access to the waterway. The changing room is now open. However, I will ask the Minister of State to engage with the group again because Pobal has set the bar so high for one of its grant applications that it simply does not make sense. The group is also seeking additional funding in order to safely get wheelchair users onto the remarkable boat it has sourced. It is vital that this equipment is provided, as it opens up opportunities to people, many of whom have no day-to-day interaction with people outside of their family and carers. It is a unique opportunity. I urge the Minister of State to make contact with them, reach out to them and offer them support, as she has done previously. I give credit to her for that. The group is incredibly grateful for it, but it is in a very difficult position, in particular with the rising cost of energy and fuel.

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