Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

First, I join the Leas-Cheann Comhairle in remarking on the fact tomorrow marks the 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This was one of the most horrific atrocities ever to take place on the European Continent and an atrocity that resulted in the massacre of more than 8,000 men and boys. It is our duty as a country, a Parliament and an international community to remember the brutality and devastation that occurred. I know we all join the community today.

Deputy Doherty mentioned Katie Taylor from Bray. I join him in wishing her all the best.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. He was right when he raised it in March. I did take action, as did the Government. I think the Deputy raised it on a Thursday during Leaders' Questions and on the Monday, from my memory, we had a meeting of the Cabinet committee on disability and agreed to sanction a fund of €8 million - again from memory - into what was called the children's disability services grant fund. That decision was taken by the Government on foot of the engagement the Deputy and I had here. I have been asking about this pretty regularly because these are important projects and, indeed, I had an opportunity to speak to the head of the HSE, Bernard Gloster, about it only this week as part our ongoing regular engagement.

In relation specifically to the Donegal group, I understood they are in very regular contact. I think there has even been contact this week between them and the HSE. I am also told they have been assured their costs will be funded. From a Government point of view, we have allocated the €8 million. I take the point about the delay and I apologised for it, but we have now sanctioned the funding. I can fully understand that there might be final compliance checks or governance checks. I do not say this rudely to the groups, but it is the first time some of them have ever received public funding or the likes. I take the point that the HSE has to do that, but we want to see the money flow. Because of the importance of the issue, while I accept there are more projects than those in Donegal, I will ask that we have a meeting of Donegal Oireachtas Members. I will ask for that to be arranged with the relevant Minister or the HSE next week to try to bring a finality to this situation. Our commitment on this was solemn. It was an €8 million fund.

More broadly, because I am conscious that people are watching this, therapy services for children is an area in which there needs to be huge progress and we are endeavouring to reform that system. That is why we have taken decisions only in recent weeks to establish a new national education therapy service led by my colleague the Minister, Deputy McEntee. We should be in a position to start recruiting for those posts in the coming weeks, I hope, starting with special schools and then rolling the project out more broadly after that to special classes and then mainstream schools. That is an important step and we have seen when it comes to assessments of need this year that there has, thankfully, been a very large increase in the number of children now getting them, although there is much more work to do on that.

On foot of Deputy Doherty raising this, and I can only imagine the genuine frustration of Denise and Jack and other Denises and Jacks, we will arrange for that meeting next week and I will keep in close contact with the Deputy. From the Government's point of view, I am clear, because I was in the room, that we have sanctioned the €8 million. We did that in March. I will ask for a specific meeting to take place with the Deputy and other Donegal Oireachtas Members next week.

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