Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I agree with the Deputy that the State should be the key provider in severe cases or cases that have complexity attached to them. That is one of the reasons, when coming into government, we wanted the disability brief moved to a different Department in order to get a more coherent and holistic approach to the issue of disability. It has taken too long given all the transfers that have happened. I do not want to place blame left, right or centre, but with everything the HSE is responsible for, this is an area that has not been comprehensively addressed. There was a time when we had annual plans and so on in terms of capital, residential respite, and providing supports without respite or residential, depending where people were on the spectrum.

Progress has been made on a number of fronts but in the context of severe cases, the Deputy is correct in saying that many operators will want the less complex cases. There is a gap and there is a problem.

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