Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Senator Power has outlined the purpose of the motion, which is to permit a pre-budget debate on disability services and funding for both children and adults with mental and physical disabilities. I only learned this morning that the Minister of State, Deputy Lynch is in hospital and that she would not be here to take the debate. I wish her well in her recovery.

Since mid-August I have called for the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, as the senior health Minister, to comment on the most recent cuts to St. Michael's House to which Senator Power alluded. I will cover some of those matters, but that is just an example of other services in Dublin and across the country that have been cut. Why did the Government feel it appropriate to announce the cuts in August during the recess and why did it backdate those cuts to 1 July?

In the case of St. Michael's House, €1 million was taken out of its budget. It was announced at the end of August but backdated to 1 July. It makes it nearly impossible for the service to manage the reduction in its budget.

The Government tends to forget that the period to 2011 featured some of the toughest budgets every announced, a point it tends to forget when it talks about the level of adjustments it has made. There have been six incredibly difficult budgets, four of which were delivered by the previous Government. In the 2011 budget there was an effective total cut of 1.9% in disability services. It was made in consultation with the Disability Federation of Ireland. The Government has no regard for the sector. There has been an 80% cut in respite services for children in the north east. In the cases of St. Michael's House and the Del Val house, on which the Minister for Health will not comment, four respite beds have been taken out of circulation completely. I will not talk about the medical cards being withdrawn from children with disabilities. We all know about it and it is happening every single day of the week. People are being asked to reapply and for reviews. As the Government directs the HSE, I do not like the idea of blaming the HSE for everything. The Minister appointed the board and Mr. O'Brien without interview. The HSE board is the Minister's board and the HSE is an arm of government. Medical cards are being withdrawn; day care services have been reduced and, in the case of St. Michael's House, I learned last night that in residential locations for adults with Down's syndrome medical services were being stopped between 10.30 a.m. and 2.30 p.m. I have the specific details from an email and a conversation I had yesterday evening. Between the hours of 10.30 a.m. and 2.30 p.m. there is no emergency medical cover in a number of the houses. This is the effect of the cut of €1 million for that service on 1,500 people in the north east. I use this as an example, but it could be replicated throughout the Twenty-six Counties.

I ask colleagues to think about why these cuts are happening. The Minister mismanaged his budget last year. He brought forward a budget last year that required a €300 million supplementary budget the day before the Christmas recess. He produced a budget before the start of this year that we said did not stack up. This has been already proved. In the first five months of the year he was already €100 million over budget. He will require another supplementary budget at the end of the year and will probably come in, under cover of darkness when there is no one in the Dáil Chamber, to have it rubberstamped by the Government. We must get control of spending. Difficult decisions have been made, but I remind both parties what was said in advance of the last general election. The Minister's party leader, Deputy Eamon Gilmore, said the Labour Party would be "looking after people with disabilities". The Taoiseach said he agreed with this and felt an absolute priority should be the 300,000 people who suffered from mental illness every year. How can these comments be married with the reality of what the Government is doing? My colleague has mentioned the cuts to the mobility allowance and the respite care grant. They delayed the passage of the Social Welfare Act in this House and it was almost defeated. It is a pity that some people did not support it, as difficult a decision as it might have been.

This is in advance of the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton, the Minister for Health, Deputy James Reilly, and the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, bringing forward budgets on 15 October. We have had no formal discussion in either House on ring-fencing budgets. In an alternative budget last year we showed that it could be done. Difficult choices must be made elsewhere and if the Government states it must raise taxes or cut transport services, most people will agree with it in the interests of protecting those with mental and physical disabilities and the elderly. All I ask, in the absence of the Minister of State and the continued absence of the Minister for Health is for the Leader to do his level best and ask colleagues on the Government side to lobby Ministers to ensure funding for the disability sector is, at the very least, ring-fenced and protected from further cuts. I remind colleagues of what happened last year when some €8 million worth of home help hours were taken out of the system. There was an apparent U-turn which we welcomed at the time. The Minister for Health said it would not happen, but that was untrue. He kept the budget the same as it was the previous year, even though more people had applied for home help services. It was a cut. Senators John Whelan and John Kelly regret that they took the Minister at his word.