Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after “Seanad Eireann” and substitute the following:
“recognises the Government's commitment to ensuring that the quality of life of people with disabilities is enhanced and that resources are prioritised for the people who need them;
notes that the Government spends approximately €4.8 billion on disability services and that the Department of Health alone will spend €1.5 billion in 2013 on health and social services for people with disabilities, including:
-residential services for over 9,000 people with a disability,
-day services for over 22,000 people with intellectual and physical disabilities,
-respite residential support for over 7,500 people with intellectual and physical disabilities,
-1.68 million hours of personal assistant-home support hours;
acknowledges the key programme for Government commitments and recognises the progress to date in implementing them, particularly in:
-the publication of the value for money and policy review of disability services which will lay the foundations for a new system of individualised budgeting, which will allow people to exercise greater choice and control, enabling them to live fully inclusive, active and independent lives within the community,
-the publication of an implementation plan for the national disability strategy, which commits to developing a comprehensive employment strategy,
-the introduction of independent inspections for residential services for people with disabilities;
welcomes the provision of €4 million in the Health Service Executive's national service plan for life skills training places and day services for school-leavers with disabilities in 2013, where each school leaver is assessed on an individual basis to plan for their services and to identify the most suitable training place depending on their particular needs;
acknowledges the range of income and work-related supports for people with disabilities provided by the Department of Social Protection and recognises that the Department has in place an equitable standardised application and assessment process whereby all cases are examined and dealt with on an individualised basis; and that the processing time for individual claims can vary depending on the complexity of the claimant's circumstances;
welcomes the publication of Recognised, Supported, Empowered, the national carer's strategy as committed to in the programme for Government, which demonstrates the Government's support of the vital role played by carers;
and
recognises that the Department of Education and Skills is focused on ensuring that all children can have access to an education appropriate to their needs and that through its budget of €1.3 billion for special education in 2013:
-has protected the numbers of resource teachers and special needs assistants in schools,
-has opened 118 new special classes this month, catering for up to 700 pupils at both primary and post primary level, increasing access to over 700 classes with 5,000 pupils, a 50% increase in special classes since 2011,
-over 1,100 teachers are also being provided for in special schools providing teaching for pupils with various disabilities at much reduced pupil/teacher ratios”.

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, and begin by wishing the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, the very best. Members from all sides send her our very best wishes. She is very passionate about disability services.

This is a very reasonable amendment. I thank my colleagues on the other side of the House for putting disability services on the agenda. It is, however, regrettable to see so few Members in the Chamber for such an important Private Members' debate.

There is agreement on all sides of the House on the need to protect services for people with disabilities. Some of the cuts that took place last year were painful and we all found them difficult. It has not been easy and the Government parties lost one colleague. I will give credit to the previous Minister of State, John Moloney, who was excellent. He saw the waste in certain areas of expenditure and initiated a value for money audit which the Government continues to support. It was carried out by Mr. Laurence Crowley. The recommendations were groundbreaking and proposed a system of funding individuals, known as individualised budgeting. It is a commitment in the programme for Government. At least, John Moloney did not keep throwing good money after bad and decided that it was time to carry out a proper evaluation of the money spent on disability services.

People often talk about the astronomical salaries paid to chief executives and senior management in the NGO sector in providing supports for people with disabilities. It is even more regrettable that a number of the charities and NGOs refused to publish the bonuses paid to senior management, citing the fact that the bonuses were paid from charitable donations, not by the taxpayer.

As far as I am concerned, the people of the State were the ones who were making the charitable donations, just as it was they who were paying the taxes that were supporting the senior management salaries in the first place. When we talk about disability services, we must talk about the whole system. We must talk about waste in administration and administration costs, including rent.

The body that nominated me to run for the Seanad is known as People with Disabilities in Ireland, PWDI. The Government removed its funding in my first year as a Senator, rightly so, because 92% of it was being spent on renting offices and paying travel expenses and wages. Only 8% of the funding actually went to provide meaningful support and training for people with disabilities. That is the type of thing that went on under the previous Government. Nobody here is to blame for this. What I describe is the type of cleaning up that had to be done. There was a barrage of criticism when the funding was removed from PWDI, but I supported the decision because it was the right thing to do. When one gives €1.6 million to an organisation, one must ensure one is getting value for money. If one gives €1.60 to somebody, one expects to get value for money.

There will, I hope, be no further deterioration in services for people with disabilities. I will be the first to acknowledge that the communication of decisions in recent years on alterations of supports for people with disabilities was badly handled. That has been agreed by everybody. I firmly believe the Government is totally committed to ensuring the money being spent on front-line services for people with disabilities and their supporters will be maintained. However, no Government would be doing its job right if it did not try to ensure savings could be achieved in administration, at senior management level and in office rental costs. When an organisation, particularly a very big one, loses 5% of its budget, there is plenty of scope for ensuring money can be saved in administration and other areas without having to hit the people on the front line. It is far too easy for organisations to send people with disabilities out to protest when they know well that making cuts to senior management wages, etc., would be the appropriate approach.

Today I was at the launch of a training programme for organisations providing support for sports groups. The idea of the training manual is to ensure all people with disabilities have access to sports facilities. The Minister of State, Deputy Michael Ring, launched the programme, with individuals such as Mr. John Delaney, chief executive of the FAI, and representatives from the GAA and other organisations. The programme is run on a shoestring budget and supported by the Government. Great value for money is achieved from it.

The money being spent on support structures for people with disabilities is more than adequate. The problem is that we are not getting value for money. The amendment to the motion which I am proposing outlines the commitment of the Government to ensuring the people who should benefit most benefit. A clean, lean, properly funded operation with no waste is the ultimate goal. That goal is shared by my colleagues on the other side of the House. In fairness to Fianna Fáil, it has used its Private Members' time to highlight issues surrounding disability. That can only be good.