Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Deputies Denis Naughten and Finian McGrath should note the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, has sent her apologies as she has, unfortunately, been caught in traffic. The Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn, will stand in for her.

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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I wish to raise once again the forgotten issue in current political debates, that of young people with a physical and intellectual disability. This issue is hugely important for the young people themselves and, in particular, their families. It is also an issue that can be dealt with easily with the right attitude, with sensible and correct policies and the support of parents and service providers.

Is it not an absolute and total disgrace that today the Government can find €2 billion for roads and buildings and yet cannot find €2 million to €3 million for 220 young people with a disability who have no place to go to next September? Does anyone in his or her right mind find this acceptable, despite the current economic crisis? Does the Minister? Is he aware that 226 young people with an intellectual disability who need a training or day care place have been forced to go on a waiting list? Moreover, 660 other school leavers need some form of specialist placement. This is the reality for those on the ground. For example, one disability service covering the north side of Dublin has 40 service users who are in crisis and need residential care. I hope the Minister understands what the term "crisis needs" means. These are adults in their 40s and 50s whose parents are dead, very ill or who have dementia or Alzheimer's disease and who need urgent care. In other words, there are 40 such young people and adults in one service alone, yet the Government is prepared to spend billions of euro on roads and buildings.

In addition, at a national level between 2012 and 2016, 217 people will require a new day care service, while 486 will require a home support service and 2,248 residential places. In addition, 2,040 support services will be needed in respect of respite services. While these are the facts, the Minister will have noted I referred to what will happen in the next five years. I urge him to deal with this issue concerning people with intellectual disabilities who have left school this week and will need a place in September.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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Nearly one in four school leavers with an intellectual disability and one in five young adults who have left post-leaving training courses are seeking a placement. This comprises a significant cohort of young adults who await a placement, even leaving aside the issues relating to physical and sensory disabilities about which there are also problems. Quite a number of those awaiting a placement have high dependency needs, requiring either one-to-one or two-to-one care. The high dependency places cannot be provided from existing resources, as has been the instruction by the Minister to the service providers which have taken a 3.7% cut to their overall funding. This will have an impact on the individualised services provided for these young people and marks a reversion to providing group services which are contrary to public policy.

It is not good enough for parents to be obliged to wait until the middle of July to learn whether they will have a place for their son or daughter next September. They are waiting for letters to arrive and some have gone on waiting lists, which is not acceptable. Others have been informed they have a part-placement, for either two or three days per week, while others have been informed they will be provided with a place until Christmas, but the position thereafter is unknown, which simply constitutes kicking the can down the road. Moreover, on top of all this, they are being given no choice; they are being told they can either like it or lump it. Some placements are not appropriate and it is akin to telling a leaving certificate student that, having failed to secure his or her preferred choice of a college to study agricultural science, he or she must take up a place in speech and drama studies instead. It is not acceptable that people are being forced into positions in which they must take particular places and that other young people are not even being given the opportunity to take up any placement. Additional funding will be required to address this issue and I urge the Minister to discuss it with the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, and address the issue as urgently as possible.

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I thank the two Deputies for bringing this important matter to the attention of the House. It is not unrelated to my own responsibility in education, although it is catered for by the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, whose apologies have been conveyed to the House.

I recognise the importance of life skills training and day services to people with disabilities who are leaving the education system and assure Members that every effort is being made within the available resources to provide services for all of the 2012 school leavers. Day services for adults with disabilities provide a network of support for more than 25,000 people who have a wide spectrum of needs ranging from those with severe and profound disabilities and who are likely to need long-term specialist service provision to those with lower support needs and a greater potential for community participation and inclusion.

The HSE, through its occupational guidance service, works with schools, service providers, service users and families to identify the needs of young people with disabilities who are due to complete their second level education. The aim is to address the needs of individuals through health-funded life skills training which usually is referred to as rehabilitative or RT training, health-funded day services, FÁS-funded vocational training and further education. Service providers and the HSE have come together under the auspices of the national consultative forum to identify how the needs of those individuals who require day services or RT places in 2012 can be responded to within available resources and the Minister of State is being kept informed of progress on a regular basis. I assure Members the process of notifying families whether a place is available or whether the young person is to be placed on a waiting list has commenced. Many families have been informed this week and every family should know the position very soon.

The demand for services for school leavers continues to grow as more than 660 school leavers will need services in 2012 and suitable placements also must be identified for a further 390 people who are completing their RT course. Disability services are required to cater for demographic pressures such as new services for those leaving school and RT training from within their existing budgets. The budgets for 2012 have been reduced by 3.7% and the moratorium on staff recruitment gives rise to challenges in service provision. However, both the voluntary sector and the HSE are committed to making the best use of available resources in a creative and flexible manner in order to be as responsive as possible to the needs of this cohort of young Irish citizens. To date, more than 500 of those leaving school this year have been placed in an RT place or other day service. In addition, places have been found for 321 of those who are completing their RT course. I thank the HSE disability service and service providers for working to achieve this without additional funding. The HSE and the disability service providers acknowledge this is a difficult time for the young people who have yet to be placed in an appropriate service, as well as for their families. Therefore, the Government will continue to make every effort to find suitable arrangements for them.

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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The Minister should bring back the message that he will make every effort to find suitable arrangements for these young people. However, I will quote briefly from a letter I received this morning from a parent who is dealing with a seriously disabled young teenager. He wrote:

What I am hearing is that some parents are being communicated with verbally and the trend appears to be that the HSE are madly scrambling to get the numbers down by addressing those with 'lower' needs (or perceived to be lower needs or their needs have been inadequately assessed) in the first instance, shoehorning people in where ever they can. Those with greater needs are being left as the resources required are greater. Not sure where this is all going to go but I can tell you that the stress levels are rising in this house.

I feel that it is still going to need input from outside the HSE to redirect the required resources.

In other words, my point is that the severely disabled kids and young teenagers are the ones who are being hammered because they will cost more from a resources perspective and as that parent's letter demonstrates, stress levels are rising. Consequently, I urge the Minister to support them as best he can.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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To follow on from Deputy Finian McGrath's comments, this pertains to a cohort of young people, many of whom have profound disabilities. At the best of times it is a difficult challenge for parents who are involved in caring for such children on an ongoing basis, without being left in limbo in which they do not know what will happen from 1 September onwards. To be quite honest, it is not good enough that we are telling those parents in the middle of July that they will find out their position very soon. An intellectual disability database was set up to ensure this crisis would not be replicated year after year, yet parents will now have to wait until the end of July.

How many families have received a letter from the HSE at this stage? How many families have a full placement or a part placement offer from the HSE, or even a placement for part of a year, which is only kicking the can down the road? How many families have now been left on a waiting list with no service provision whatsoever? These are basic questions and I hope the Minister can answer them.

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I thank both Deputies for raising this matter. I recognise the seriousness of it. I also recognise that we are dealing with a cohort of young people who are moving from a certain phase in their life out of secondary education or training and into the wider world. The relationship between those young people and their families is itself changing, and the fact that they have disabilities does not alter that transition process.

I do not have the answers to the questions raised by Deputy Naughten, but they are on the record of the House and I will ask Deputy Kathleen Lynch to ensure that specific replies are conveyed to both Deputies.