Jillian van Turnhout (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Leader was asked about the Court of Appeal Bill. I certainly support the view that All Stages should be taken together. The legislation reflects the will of the people. I have examined it and I am very supportive of it. I look forward to speaking about it.

I am concerned about the time allocated for the Employment Permits (Amendment) Bill. More questions arise the more I look at it. Sixteen amendments have been tabled. The Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and the Minister, Deputy Richard Bruton, have been very good and provided some very detailed responses to my concerns, but there are some concerns that warrant a debate in the House. I am concerned that only 30 minutes have been allowed for consideration of the Bill.

Senator Aideen Hayden has raised an issue I wanted to raise today, namely, that of children who died in the care of the State and the reports to be produced by the national review panel on serious incidents and child deaths. This is a wider issue for the House to debate with the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy James Reilly. The debate should cover the issues of aftercare for children who were in the care of the State, special care placements, out-of-hours services and the role of alcohol and drug addiction. I ask that the Leader organise this debate at the earliest opportunity.

I refer to the cuts in funding under the scheme to support national organisations, an issued raised by Senator Marc MacSharry. I have been raising it since or even before May 2013. I had a premonition that what has occurred under the new scheme would happen. I wish I had been proved wrong, but, unfortunately, the cuts have happened. It is not the Taoiseach who should come to the House to address the issue but the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government. With the greatest of respect to Senator Marc MacSharry, this matter is within the remit of the Minister. The scheme has long been connected with community services for people with disabilities. If we study the funding allocations for 2011–13, we will note that there were 64 participating organisations, almost half of which had a disability or caring orientation. Yesterday, when I spoke about this issue, I stated it went to the heart of every community. I wish to list the organisations that have been subject to cuts: the Alzheimer Society of Ireland; Arthritis Ireland; Aspire; Brí, the acquired brain injury advocacy association; the Centre for Independent Living; Chronic Pain Ireland; the Disability Federation of Ireland; the Dyslexia Association of Ireland; the Genetic and Rare Disorders Organisation; GROW; the Huntington’s Disease Association of Ireland; the Irish National Council of AD/HD Support Groups; Irish Autism Action; the Irish Deaf Society; the Irish Heart Foundation; the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association, IMNDA; the Irish Stammering Association; the Migraine Association of Ireland; MS Ireland; Muscular Dystrophy Ireland; Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Ireland; the Neurological Alliance of Ireland; the Post Polio Support Group; the Asthma Society of Ireland; and the Carers Association. The Seanad should stand up in this regard. If we were to considere what we spent on consultants' reports alone, we would realise we could fund these organisations.