Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Fitzmaurice for raising this important matter. First, in relation to Lough Funshinagh, I thank him for the constructive engagement he has had with the Government on the matter. I am pleased Roscommon County Council intends to submit a planning application to An Bord Pleanála this week. I have been in the homes of the people impacted. The fear they are living with is quite horrific. I am conscious winter is coming. We will all continue to work together closely on the issue. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, and Roscommon County Council for their work on this matter.

The Deputy raised a very serious issue in relation to Seán. I ask that we talk further about it afterwards. While I have a long note I can read out about all the extra investment we are making in disability services and I appreciate the excellent work being done in this area by my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Anne Rabbitte, which the Deputy acknowledged, in many ways the story the Deputy told hits the nail on the head. Regardless of money or investment, young people, and not-so-young people, are getting lost trying to navigate a system which seems to be centred around everyone other than the person with the disability. That is why we have set up a new Cabinet committee on disability and why I am chairing it. It is why we are trying to bring everyone around the table to see that, when we make decisions in relation to investment, it goes where we expect it to go to improve service delivery. The Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, is passionate about that.

We are significantly increasing the money we are putting into disability services year on year, as we should. We are giving the go-ahead to increase staff year on year. We are talking more and more to organisations about what we can do. We are trying to rectify issues that section 39 disability organisations have, including increased pay to staff, which is an issue on which they have been campaigning for ages. We have taken measures as a Government to address an 8% increase. We still hear of cases like Seán's where, despite an allocation by Government to help support him, he finds himself without a service.

The best thing I can do is ask the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, to engage directly with Deputy Fitzmaurice on Seán's case, as I will too. The reason he is highlighting it is not just to advocate for Seán but also to highlight a broader issue in terms of the level of reform that we need to drive and will drive in return for increased investment. We are not just going to be able to keep writing cheques without asking what impactful difference this will make to the lives of people with a disability.

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