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

Each and every one of the letters I hold today has come from a user of the services of the Irish Wheelchair Association in Mullingar. They were dropped into my office yesterday by somebody who works with them. I will use their words to describe how they are feeling. The first letter states:

I am a person with a disability and rely heavily on my personal assistant from the Irish Wheelchair Association community. This support is diminishing for people like me around the country due to staff leaving and working for the HSE, as they are paid more. Staff of the Irish Wheelchair Association, a section 39 organisation, are paid less than those who work in section 38 organisations or directly for the HSE. This is causing an inability to recruit and retain staff, which means services are being reduced and people like me suffer the consequences.

The end of this letter states:

I don't know what I'll do without the Irish Wheelchair Association service if it goes. I don't want it to go. Please help.

Another letter finishes with the following: "When I have no Irish Wheelchair Association service, I'm lonely and I'm sad." Another, to me, really hits the nail on the head:

Cop yourselves on. What are you doing to the people who are looked after by the staff of the Irish Wheelchair Association who need support to live their lives? These people put a smile on our faces every day. Would you work for this money as a TD?

There is a question for the Members opposite. The reality is that the growing disparity affecting section 39 organisations has not materialised out of thin air; it has been featuring for years, and there seems to a push to have us and service users simply accept this and to have the staff simply accept doing the same work for less than that given to those in another organisation or the HSE. That is simply not on. These are vital care services. People with disabilities in our communities rely on them, as do their families, and they must be adequately and sustainably resourced. Therefore, I ask the Minister to withdraw his amendment to our motion, step up to the plate, acknowledge that the Government has got this wrong, and support this motion.

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