Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The decision to abolish two key allowances - the mobility allowance and the motorised transport grant - for people with disabilities is incomprehensible and wrong, in particular without any alternative being put in place for the recipients. It will be a permanent cut of more than €208 per month for up to 5,000 people with disabilities receiving those allowances. No other person in our society at this juncture has been asked to take a 20% cut in his or her income. That people with very serious mobility and disability issues should be forced to do so at the stroke of a pen is scandalous and reprehensible.

The chief executive officer of the Disability Federation of Ireland has articulated on behalf of its members and people affected how appalled they are at this decision. As he pointed out, most of the people involved are only in receipt of approximately €190 per week. The only definite timeline in the Minister's announcement is that to end permanently the allowances. There is no timeline in terms of alternatives or the special review group.

This is a very severe cut which is unprecedented and was made without consultation with the groups. What is the Government's difficulty in dealing effectively and in a visionary way with people with disabilities? If one goes back over the past two years, the disability allowance was cut in the Government's very first budget, home help hours were cut last August and there was a cut to personal assistants and people had to camp outside Government Buildings to reverse that cut. For the first time in 40 years, there has been an end to dedicated guidance counsellor provision in schools which will affect the mental health of our young people. There have been cuts to the domiciliary care allowance and to the therapies, including physiotherapy and speech and language therapy, for people with disabilities. Above all, in the last budget, there was a cut in the respite care grant. If one adds it all up, it amounts to a severe attack on people with disabilities at the very minimum and an incoherent approach to people with disabilities, an inability to look across the spectrum and a lack of an overall approach to assist people in what is a very difficult time, which we acknowledge. People with disabilities are unnecessarily bearing the brunt of the Government's targets. Will the Taoiseach consider reversing this decision today?

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I was interested in the Deputy's comments at the weekend that when one disagrees with something, one always proposes an alternative. I will be interested to hear what he has to say about that. The Deputy has a brass neck to make a political football out of an issue which is very serious for the people concerned. He sat on these benches and reduced the blind person's allowance not once but twice, he cut the mobility allowance and the carer's allowance and the carer's benefit and he removed the Christmas payment, which amounted to a cut of 10%.

I thank the Ombudsman for the work she did in identifying and clarifying that these two schemes - the motorised transport grant and the mobility allowance - are illegal, do not conform with the Disability Act, the Equal Status Act and the Constitution, Bunreacht na hÉireann. We cannot stand over schemes which are obsolete, unfair, discriminatory and do not conform with those Acts and, therefore, we must deal with this. That is why the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, and the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, over the past while have involved themselves in exhaustive discussions on this. These schemes have proved not to be in compliance with the legislation I mentioned.

The moneys allocated - more than €10 million - will not be withdrawn. They are being ring-fenced for payment to people under a scheme which is in compliance with the Acts. That is why the Government is closing these schemes for new applicants. They are illegal, discriminatory, not inclusive and not comprehensive. We have appointed Ms Sylda Langford to work with the disability groups and the groups involved to expand the remit of those involved in dealing with this to health, transport, environment and Revenue and to come back with a new scheme which is in compliance with those Acts so the moneys already allocated on a full year basis can be paid to persons eligible for receipt of the payment.

When introduced in 1970 by circular from the Department of Health, the criteria were that a person would not be able to walk for more than 15 minutes, exertion would be a damage to his or her health and that he or she needed a change of scenery. Those criterion are completely obsolete. The definition of disability has changed completely. The capacity of various schemes to deliver an inclusive transport mobility scheme has changed completely and it is for that reason we cannot continue with a situation which is illegal and outside the scope of the Equal Status Act, the Disability Act and the Constitution. We must deal with this in a fair, equitable and comprehensive way. The moneys allocated will continue to be allocated and those people who are in receipt of that payment will continue to receive it for the next four months.

The Deputy will be aware that the motor companies now guarantee vehicles for five or seven years. The current roll-over is three years for persons who have severe disabilities and need adapted motor vehicles. We want to be able to continue that so we must devise a new scheme, taking into account the broader capacity of what is happening now. The moneys allocated will remain allocated.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I do not have a brass neck with regard to disability issues. I stand over my record as Minister for Education and Minister for Health in introducing special needs assistants in schools, which was a radical departure for its time and has stood the test of time. I also introduced resource teachers and provided significant disability grants for people leaving second level schools and so forth.

Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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The scheme was illegal for 13 years.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Much of this is now under threat from the Government owing to the lack of an overall strategy to implement a national disability strategy. The key point is that the language the Taoiseach is using and the language the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch used this morning and at the parliamentary committee three weeks ago is telling recipients of the allowance that they will not receive it after the next four months. There is talk about alternative means of transport, broadening the range of transport services and so forth. Up to 5,000 people are in receipt of €208 a month, which will permanently end in four months. There is no certainty after that date. In fact, the only certainty is that they will not receive the allowance again.

The Taoiseach suggests the sum of €10 million will be allocated across a range of transport initiatives. The Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, has said there will be a whole-of-government approach. People are very wary of whole-of-government approaches. They were told the same thing about guidance counselling-----

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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They are, after the hole the previous Government left.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----that there would be a whole-of-school approach to mental health issues.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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The Deputy is over time.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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This is the utilisation of language that disguises the reality of a very severe and unprecedented cut for people who only have €190 a week.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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Will the Deputy, please, adhere to what the Chair says?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Taoiseach must deal with the specific issue of how people on €190 a week are supposed to cope in four months time with a dramatic reduction in their income, without consultation. There have been weeks of talks with public sector workers, but there has been no consultation with the recipients of these allowances and their income will go down by 20%. Will the Taoiseach deal with the specifics of that issue for these recipients?

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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Before the Taoiseach replies, I inform the House that I have granted permission to two Deputies to raise this matter in the Topical Issue debate.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Deputy Micheál Martin says the decision of the Government is incomprehensible, wrong, unprecedented and scandalous and was unannounced and that he will stand over his record. Here is the record.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Deal with the issue.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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In December 2010 he sat at the Cabinet table.

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Here is the brass neck to talk down the clock.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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Please allow the Taoiseach to reply. There is only one minute in which to reply. I am going to rule on this issue because other Deputies are waiting to contribute.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The then Minister for Health and Children prepared a memorandum for the Government following a review of the mobility allowance and the motorised transport grant by her Department. She decided to close the mobility allowance scheme to new applicants and abolish the motorised transport grant with effect from 1 March 2011.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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It did not happen.

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Yes, because there was an election.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Does the Deputy stand over his record?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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It did not happen.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The then Government was afraid to face the truth and there was an election. The Deputy knew, following the comments made by the Ombudsman, that the scheme was not in compliance with the Equal Status Act or the Disability Act and, therefore, not in compliance with the Constitution.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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The Taoiseach has been in government for almost two years, or is that news to him?

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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However, that was nothing new to the Deputy's party which was described years ago for what it was.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Deal with the specifics.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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The electorate dealt with us two years ago.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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What is the Government going to do for the people who will be down €208?

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The Government set aside almost €11 million for the scheme for this year. That money is ring-fenced.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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It is not; it is not ring-fenced for the people concerned.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Yes, it is. What we want to do now-----

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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It is not ring-fenced for the recipients.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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I will not ask the Deputy again.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Taoiseach is misleading them again.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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Will the Deputy, please, show some respect for the House?

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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He would be an expert in misleading people.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I have seen the precedents. That is how I know.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I would not go there, Minister.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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I will have to cut this short.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Deputy Micheál Martin stands over his record of refusal to deal with reality. The reality is that these schemes are not in compliance with the Equal Status Act, the Disability Act or the Constitution.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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That is not the issue.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The issue is how to deal with this when one ring-fences money for this purpose. What is required is for us to rise to the challenge of creating a new scheme to provide access to transport for the persons who need it and leave money in situ for that purpose. That is what the Government decided yesterday.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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At the same time it is undermining the rural transport initiative.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The reality is that Deputy Micheál Martin wants us to continue with a scheme that is deemed to be illegal under the Equal Status Act-----

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Act can be amended.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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-----and outside the definition of disability today. The world has utterly changed since that circular was issued in 1979 and we are now charged with dealing with this. The money has been provided for the people who need this service and it will continue to be ring-fenced for that purpose.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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But they will not get it.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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It is not ring-fenced for the recipients.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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In the forthcoming period the person appointed will meet all the federations and groups. The Minister for Health, Deputy James Reilly, and the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, met the Disability Federation of Ireland last Thursday and officials met the Irish Wheelchair Association and the Disability Federation of Ireland on 12 February. The officials and the Minister of State have met most groups in the past month. The Deputy should not come in here and say he stands over his record. It is, quite simply, appalling.

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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The Taoiseach says the Government has scrapped the mobility allowance scheme and the motorised transport grants scheme because they are illegal. Why are they illegal? They are illegal because they discriminate against a section of citizens who are entitled to these schemes but are denied access to them and have been denied access to them by successive Governments. Fianna Fáil was in power for most of the 13 years that they have been illegal, but the Government has had two years to sort the issue out. It has been doing the very same as Fianna Fáil, which is discriminating against citizens.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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Please allow the Deputy to speak without interruption. We live in a democracy.

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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The way to bring these schemes into compliance with the law and give citizens with disabilities their entitlements, where appropriate, is to do what the Ombudsman recommended. The Department has stated, contrary to what the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, said on radio this morning, that these costs cannot be borne. That is the nub of the matter. This was done without notice being given to the Dáil, disability groups or recipients and without consultation. Cost has everything to do with this decision. The Government will not extend the schemes because it will cost more; therefore, it has scrapped them owing to the threat of legal action. It is all about money. There is plenty of money for the golden circles but none for disabled citizens with entitlements. I ask the Taoiseach, leaving aside all the brickbats between the Government and Fianna Fáil, to rescind this decision, wait until the review has concluded and consult properly with representatives of disabled citizens before taking any decision on this matter.

John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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What about the citizens you disabled?

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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At least Deputy Gerry Adams was not responsible for this situation; I will grant him that much. Under the current arrangements, over €10 million was allocated for the full year, to be ring-fenced for both of these schemes. However, they have been deemed to be illegal and not in conformity with the Equal Status Act and, therefore, not in compliance with the Constitution.

Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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Change the Act. It is very easy.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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We must now devise a scheme in working with the groups involved. The Minister and the Minister of State met with the vast majority of them in the past month. We must put in place a scheme that is far more comprehensive, fair and equitable than these two which are deemed to be illegal.

The Deputy is aware that throughout the country in both urban and rural areas there are a variety of mobility and transport schemes in operation through one agency or system or another. We are now involving all of the people in the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, the Department of Health, the Revenue Commissioners, disability groups, the federation and the HSE.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport is not in the review.

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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It is.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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It is the Government's document - no Department of Transport.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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They know who is currently in receipt of the motor transport grant. We will devise a scheme which is compliant with the law and the definitions in the Disability Act. This has dragged on for a very long time. The Ombudsman identified very valuably a piece of information which Government must now respond to. It is not an easy challenge. It is not the case that moneys allocated in 2013 are being taken away.

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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You have spent two years thinking about it.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The money is ring-fenced and will continue to be left in place for the people who receive allowances over the next four months. Hopefully at the end of that time, a new scheme can be put in place in which the moneys currently available will continue to be made available.

We cannot afford in the current circumstances a scheme which might rise to €200 million or €300 million and would as a direct consequence take from existing front-line services for disabled people or those challenged in one way or another. It is a serious matter for all of them. The Minister and Minister of State met with the federation last Thursday. People have been aware of the difficulties and complexities involved in the illegality of the scheme for quite some time.

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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A nugget emerges in the Taoiseach's answer. The words "we simply cannot afford" are the core of the issue. The knowledge that the schemes were illegal has been around for 13 years. The simple thing is to change the scheme to make it legal. Instead, the Government scraps it. Already this morning, I have had calls from our Drogheda office to say that citizens who are liable to be on these schemes are alarmed because there was no notice. It is a sign of dysfunctionality that on what might otherwise have been a good news day for the Government we end up with a controversy. The Government is ham-fisted in dealing with these matters. In response to a question to Deputy Mary Lou McDonald last October, the Tánaiste said it was not the Government's wish to withdraw the mobility allowance from those in receipt of it. Now the Government has done exactly what the Tánaiste said it did not wish to do.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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We have not withdrawn it. It is still there.

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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I ask the Taoiseach to reflect on what has been said and the fact that there was no notice to the Dáil. We were here all day yesterday but there was not a whimper of this. There was no notice to recipients or disability groups. We are not asking the Taoiseach to have a revolution. We are asking him simply to deal with the ombudsman's recommendation and do what should have been done a long time ago, which is to stop discriminating against citizens with disabilities who could have access to these two schemes. I ask the Taoiseach to go off and reflect on that. That would be the decent and honest thing to do this morning.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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That is exactly what is going to happen now.

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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Is it a revolution or a reflection?

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The Government has decided to appoint Ms Sylda Langford to work with the groups involved in this and with the expanded number of Departments which currently supply services in one way or another to people in rural and urban areas. If one were to have a scheme that cost €200 million to €300 million, one would put an end to the home care package and the home help scheme; taking from one sensitive area and putting it into another.

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Bring in a wealth tax.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Government has already cut the home help scheme.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The money has been ring-fenced for the entire year. The Ministers have looked at various options to make the scheme compliant and the legal advice is clear that all of the options would be discriminatory. In order to comply with the legislation and the Constitution we must devise a new scheme. That is why a sunset clause is being included. The money is not being taken away. It is ring-fenced.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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It is being taken away.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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This is not a savings exercise, it is about finding a way to provide an inclusive, fair, equitable, non-discriminatory system which deals with those who need it. They have severe physical challenges and need cars to be altered. It is for those who are now in compliance with the new definition under the Disability Act and the Equal Status Act. We are creating a scheme that is much more inclusive, non-discriminatory and fair. That is why we included a sunset clause. The money is not being taken away. It is being left there. Hopefully, we can work together to bring about a scheme in a more concentrated form to the current system of various schemes to cater to those who need it.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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It boggles me to hear the Taoiseach refer to a sunset clause because this cohort of 5,000 people will never see sunrise or sunset. They will be locked in their homes. This was a very specialised grant. The legal issue has been known for five years. The Ombudsman brought it to the last Government's attention. The Taoiseach promised a new era of transparency. He has known about this for two years. To come to the House to tell us that this is being done on foot of the Attorney General's advice forces me to ask what the Attorney General has been doing for the last two years. What were the last Attorneys General doing? Will their pensions be cut if they were misleading the country? This is farcical in the extreme.

Does the Taoiseach know what it means to people on the margins who do not have transport to make a simple journey to the shop, mass or the doctor? Are there people in the Departments of the Taoiseach, Health or Social Protection with a disability to give Ministers an understanding? When this was mooted in 2009, a group of us approached the then Minister, Mary Hanafin, and insisted it was reversed. The issue arose again last summer when we were all on our holidays and disabled people had to come to the gates of Government Buildings and Leinster House to protest. I salute them because many were unfit but they came. The Taoiseach went back on it. Are there officials in the Departments who are constantly bringing this forward - "Here we come again"? As Deputy Gerry Adams said, there was no word of it yesterday when the Government was talking about its good deal on the banks. This issue slipped out again last night and the Government blamed the Ombudsman. Last summer, the Government blamed the troika. The troika had nothing to do with it as we all know. We know today it has nothing to do with the Ombudsman. I heard her tell the nation that on "Morning Ireland" this morning. All she wants is equality and parity of esteem for pensioners. Are they not entitled to it?

This is a very sad situation. In April 2012, disabled drivers and passengers were hit with a new charge of €135.30 payable to a new quango, the National Standards Authority of Ireland, or NSAI, in respect of individual vehicle approval certification. Another charge and another quango was imposed on those people. There has not been an increase in the level of support to disabled drivers since 1987. We have seen 26 years pass and a number of recessions, booms and busts without an increase in what can be claimed back in VRT or VAT. It has been 26 years and now the Government goes after this. These people were not represented at last week's talks. They were not at Croke Park the first or second time and will not be at Croke Park for the third agreement. They will not have Jack O'Connor and the other union representatives or the Labour Party to help them. Is the Labour Party going to make Mr. O'Connor an honorary member if the deal is passed?

A Deputy:

You can become an honorary member of Fianna Fáil. Take Deputy Mattie McGrath back.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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To make it worse, the backbenchers over there-----

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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Do not egg them on.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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I will talk to the Chair. The backbenchers over there knew about this for two days or more.

They knew this was coming. They knew it last summer so they should have put it to bed once and for all.

Will the Taoiseach find the moral courage to stand up to his officials who are pushing this on him? He is too weak to resist.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The Government does not lay the blame for this on anybody.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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It is blaming people.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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It accepts the reality that the situation as identified by the Ombudsman is clear, that the court determined that the situation is as it is and as a consequence the Government has to deal with it. Tomorrow, for instance, the Government will publish the value for money review of disability services and the implementation framework, which will be broadly acceptable in the way that services are provided for people with disabilities. They have evolved over time and need to change very much further in the interests of the people they are supposed to serve. As the Deputy knows, there are additional moneys of about €4 million per day in the 2013 programme to provide day services for people with disabilities who are over the age of 18 and leaving school this year.

The Equality Tribunal found on two occasions that because the mobility allowance scheme is available only to people who are unable to walk, it discriminates against people with other forms of disability. That is the nub of the problem. There is also age limit applied to people between 16 and 66, the fact that the definitions now applicable to persons with disability are much broader than they were, and the evolution of services over the past 20 years, so that they have changed utterly. I repeat that a sum in excess of €10 million is allocated this year for both of these schemes, but the scheme is illegal and discriminatory, does not comply with the Equal Status or Disability Acts, and is outside the limits of our Constitution. We must make provision for a new scheme in which those moneys can be spent on people who need them.

The Deputy is aware that for the 350 people who received the motorised transport grant, the mechanics of their cars must be altered so that people with particular forms of physical disability can drive and have the independence to travel to the shop or the local town, as the Deputy said. For people in receipt of the mobility allowance covering the spectrum of definitions of disability, we now need to devise a new scheme that complies with the law and is conclusive and comprehensive.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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There is no new scheme being proposed.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The Government needs to come together with the agencies and Departments whose remit has expanded and which supply a range of services with a view to providing a scheme that will cater for the needs of people who require it. That is the job of the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, and the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch. It is not true to say that the groups involved were not informed. They were all told yesterday. There have been meetings about this for some time. As the Deputy is aware, and as I pointed out to another Deputy this morning, there was an occasion on which a different Government refused to face up to the fact that it continued to operate a scheme that was illegal, unequal and discriminatory.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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When will the Taoiseach act on the mandate he received from the people over two years ago, be a man and stand up for what he believes in and what he promised the people, and not blame everything on the past Government?

I heard John Dolan of the Disability Federation of Ireland on radio this morning. The Taoiseach had a path worn going over and back to Buswell's Hotel to meet him and make promises under the last Government but I heard the man say that he knew nothing about this. There were no consultations. I have a simple request. The Taoiseach might blame the Independent Members for not offering anything. When the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, has finished whispering to him, will he agree to defer this attack on these people until he works out all the promises and things he has said he will do and carries out consultation? Will he defer this decision for four months? The Taoiseach said the money is ring-fenced, which is great. He should have some compassion, defer this and change the legislation. Four months should be ample time. He should not cower behind the troika, as he did last June, the Ombudsman, as he did this morning, and everybody else he likes to blame, including the last Government, which he blames for everything. He should be a man. The Taoiseach should stand up and be counted. These people need this transport not only to go to the shops, to mass and to dental appointments but also to go to the polls to vote. They will pass a damning judgment on the Taoiseach and Jack O'Connor and the Taoiseach's friends in the Labour Party when it comes to it. He should be a man. Seas suas agus déan do dhícheall. I beg the Taoiseach to defer this until such time as we have dealt with it and passed the legislation. I do not believe the money is ring-fenced, but we will see when it comes to the point. Show me the money.

Is it true that the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, refused to meet people with disabilities in Limerick Hospital last week? I am very disappointed to hear that. I received a text during my contribution here from people with disabilities who were turned down for grants.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I am not sure what the Deputy means by "defer". Nobody who is in receipt of the moneys at the moment will lose one cent during the period of the sunset clause while the work and discussion on drafting a new scheme continue. I am not sure whether the Deputy is saying we should cut it off altogether and devise a new scheme.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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No, I am not.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Taoiseach should be honest. The scheme is gone.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Deputy Mattie McGrath is reverting to form.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I am glad the Deputy is clear on that, because those persons who are in receipt of €208.50 per month will continue to receive this payment during the course of the work that is now being undertaken to devise a new scheme. I am sure Deputy McGrath does not want the Government to operate two schemes that are clearly deemed to be illegal, discriminatory and outside the Equal Status Act-----

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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I am sure the Taoiseach does not mind ignoring the Supreme Court. He ignored the Supreme Court on the children's referendum. He is still ignoring it.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I am quite sure the Deputy does not want the Government to operate schemes that are clearly deemed to be illegal. I think I can take that from his demeanour.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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It would suit the Taoiseach.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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We have to devise a scheme that is legal, fair, inclusive and equitable, and that accords with the law and the Constitution.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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He has four months to do it. We will all help him.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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That is the work that will go on over the next four months. The moneys are ring-fenced. They are not being taken away. They are there for this purpose.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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Like the money for mental health services that was ring-fenced.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The challenge is for the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, and the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, to be able to do that with Ms Langford, who has been appointed to chair this process. The Minister and the Minister of State have met the different groups on numerous occasions over a recent period and they were all informed yesterday before the announcement was made.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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Yesterday?

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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They were formally informed yesterday before the announcement was made. I did not tell Deputy Adams yesterday that the bank guarantee was going to end. He occasionally has an interest in banks.