Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael)

There are many mixed messages coming from the Government. It claims that we are on target and do not need an early budget, yet the Minister for Finance has given his Cabinet colleagues four weeks in which to find €3 billion in cuts. What is that, if not a budget? I am appalled. This week 1,000 parents of intellectually disabled young people in Galway received a letter from the Brothers of Charity, in which swingeing cuts of €2.5 million were outlined. This will result in the closure of two residential homes and the lumping together of people with disabilities, in spite of what was stated in a human rights report about abuses that had happened in such instances. Now charging people for day services is being looked at and notice has been given to families in Galway that there will be a cut of 45% in respite care next year. Such care provides a lifeline for the parents concerned. All of us in this House know young people with disabilities.