Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I first thank Deputy Tully for bringing this motion forward and I am glad the Government is not opposing it. I have listened to the whole debate. The first thing that comes to mind to me is the workforce planning. Without any workforce planning, nothing happens. Even in Sinn Féin's housing strategy, we had 10% of all social housing to be specifically designed for people with disabilities. It is about going forward and doing the right thing.

The Minister of State mentioned section 38 and section 39 organisations where there is a massive disparity. My own daughter is working in a section 39 organisation where there is no problem in recruiting but the section 38 organisations are an absolute disaster. It is as simple as that. Something has to be done about that. We have 11 CDNTs in the Cork-Kerry region and they are struggling. The latest figures are of just over 600 children waiting over six months for an assessment.

Going back to what the Minister of State said about demographics and the demographic of change, I was very interested in that because we all have the constituency dashboard, which I have spoken about so many times inside here. The information is there from every census which has been done. I can go into the smallest little village or largest town in my constituency in Cork East and it will tell you how many people have autism, disabilities, the age cohort and how many there are. The information is there and we just cannot seem to plan for this.

The UNCRPD optional protocol has been and remains a massive bugbear for me. In a previous Dáil, Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin battered that drum over and over again. I fear that the optional protocol will not get passed within the term of this Dáil from the rumours which are spinning around the place outside. We will keep fighting on this side of the House anyway because it is a rights-based issue.

In the short speaking time I have left, what I am very worried about is the strain on the individuals, on their mental health and on the way they are being mistreated.

Families are broken. I can remember meeting many families a number of years ago and it was so bad that they had Alsatian cages in their kitchens so when the son or daughter kicked off they actually put them into the cage for their safety and for the child's safety. This is 2024 and we should never be approaching something like that. I just had to say that because I have seen it and I have listened to the families who have told me. The problem we have here, however, is with the assessment of needs and with how bad the disability services and the respite services are. We had a 22-bed respite service in Midleton that is now down to six beds. We are going backwards.

I had a very short window of opportunity here but I welcome that the Government is not opposing the motion. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte for that.

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