Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank all Senators from both sides of the House who contributed because I know how genuinely people feel about this issue. Great credit is due to Irish society for one thing we have done. I listened to Senator Mulcahy talking about his daughter and his family situation. It is true with this House as it is for most of Irish society that at some stage all of us have cared for people or we will do so in future, because it is part of the human condition. In fairness to both sides in a way we are speaking about ourselves, people close to us or people we know or have worked with.

Senator Mulcahy is someone in that situation currently, looking after a cherished child. Let us remember back to 40 years ago to this country. At the time, people with a mild to moderate physical or intellectual disability would have ended up not being in an ordinary primary school with their peers but probably would have been institutionalised especially as they got older, bigger and heavier. Some of the changes are due simply to changes in technology and medical skills and supports. However, there has been another change that reflects rather well on Ireland. No one involved in politics agrees on everything but we have moved forward. Wherever one goes in this country, whether for a social occasion or otherwise, one can meet someone who is a special person.

When we hosted occasions such as the Special Olympics, the entire country celebrated with the participants. That is not the case in every country and it is something we can recognise as an Irish achievement. Some 40 or even 25 years ago many children who were profoundly deaf ended up in schools for the deaf. Nowadays it is relatively unusual for a child who is profoundly deaf to be anywhere other than in a mainstream school with additional support to cope with his or her disability. That is progress.

A Senator asked why we compared ourselves with other countries. We do so in order to mark what we do well and where we can do better. An economist wrote about Greece in one of our newspapers last week after European journalists had been taken on a trip to that country. The concept of a carer's allowance is largely unknown in Greece. It is not that people there do not care for family members but that a structure of support is not available via the social welfare system. The collapse of funding for regional governments in Spain means a considerable number of public servants working in care institutions and hospitals are hardly being paid and, in a couple of cases, are not being paid at all.

Senator Darragh O'Brien asked what was the position of the troika on these matters. Perhaps this question warrants a full debate in the House. To a certain extent, the troika speaks with a forked tongue. It states we can do this, that and the other but that it wants its money back. The agreement with it includes a specific commitment to introduce consolidation measures - troika speak for expenditure cuts - amounting to at least ¤3.5 billion in 2013. This is not negotiable.