Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)

The Minister of State and the Government are failing people with disabilities. The budget announced last week did nothing for them and actually made them worse off. The report the Government produced in 2021 outlined that it costs people with disabilities more to live because of the extras they need. It costs anything between €10,000 and €12,000 extra. What has the Government done to help them? The Minister of State listed out a lot of things the Government is doing. If she comes down to my constituency, I will bring her around. I will show her how people with disabilities are living and how they are struggling. Government Members speak about what they are doing but do they not know how people are suffering and how they are struggling?

At the age of 33, a very good friend of mine, Eddie Hennessy, had a massive stroke. He has had an unbelievable fightback and we see how he is now. He still has many issues. He set up his own photography company and he turned out to be brilliant. He was out the door for a couple of years with people trying to book him. However, there were no supports for disabled entrepreneurs. He presented before the Oireachtas disability committee two years ago and people were telling him he was a great bit of stuff and well done. Eddie's business is gone now and the reason it is gone is Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Independent Deputies never supported him and they are still not supporting him. It is not only Eddie; it is any disabled person out there who wants to become an entrepreneur, who wants to make a difference and who wants to stand on their own two feet. All they are looking for is a little bit of help.

There are parents whose children have no school. We are in October. How is this possible in 2025? Cherishing all the children equally is a load of bollocks, God forgive me. They have no school and the Minister of State is coming in here with her big long list of what the Government is doing for them. There are three Ministers of State present and I will send each of them the names of these children and I will look for them to come back to tell me when and where they will have a school.

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