Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am not rowing with Deputy Doherty today. He seems nearly disappointed that I am saying I am going to resolve the matter. He is right to highlight this issue. He is right to call on us to resolve the issue, and we are going to do that. I am not going to stand up and defend something that cannot be defended. A scheme was announced in good faith, people applied, and the funding now needs to be provided. The HSE has a level of funding that is almost eye-watering, and €8 million is a rounding error. The idea that that €8 million, which could make a fundamental difference to the lives of so many children, including in the Deputy's county, has not yet been provided is extraordinarily frustrating. The Deputy asked. I am not commentating on this. I know what I am going to do. I have told the Deputy very clearly what I am going to do. I have spoken to the Taoiseach. He and I are ad idem on this issue. We will have a Cabinet committee on disability, and we are going to resolve the issue and make sure the money flows because the Deputy has outlined the very serious human impact to young children when that does not happen, and I thank him for doing that.

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