Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The decision to transfer disability services from the Department of Health to the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth was taken by the Government at the beginning of its term. During questions with the Taoiseach last week my colleague, Deputy Clarke, raised the ongoing delay in transferring these functions to the Department of the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman. Having expressed his concerns to the relevant Ministers, will the Taoiseach confirm when this transfer of functions will take place? The delay is the cause of significant damage to services. If the transfer is not expedited, this damage will take years to undo because neither Minister can confirm when the workforce strategy planning group will be established or which Department will take the lead on its work. The real-world outcome of the absence of a workforce strategy is the rapid and perhaps irreversible loss of staff to the disability sector. Will the Taoiseach follow up on this matter with the Ministers to clarify when the workforce strategy planning group will be established? The Department of Health has indicated that it will not publish the long-promised disability action plan as it will not be implementing it-----

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