Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for the congratulations. Respectfully, that is the kind of rhetoric that I am saying does not match up with reality. The Minister is talking about people reaching their full potential and people's needs being met. There is a stark contrast between that kind of language and the language that comes back in reports from the Ombudsman with titles such as "Wasted Lives". We have seen all the reports and heard all the promises over and over again. We have seen committee after committee. Cara has had meeting after meeting. The Minister is talking about the budget allocation. The Department's own capacity review stated it needed about €1 billion to meet the unmet needs of disabled people in Ireland. In the last budget €65 million was allocated. There has never been a real or meaningful attempt to address it from a budgetary perspective.

The Minister spoke about recruitment in the children's disability network teams, saying there were about 160 offers. There are about 700 vacant posts so even if those 160 offers were accepted, it would be a mere drop in the ocean. Instead of telling us how many offers have been made, will the Minister update us on how many have been accepted? How many of the positions have actually been filled? What is the Government doing to fill the 700 vacant posts that are needed?

This Government also promised to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Is there a date for that? There are potentially a few months left of this Government now.

When will there be pay parity for section 39 workers? When will there be appropriate school places? The reality is we are four years into this Government and there is only a couple of months left.

We have had 12 years of Fine Gael in Government. I have come to the conclusion that the only way we will meet the unmet needs of disabled people in this country is with a new Government.

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