Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I find it extraordinary that despite the comments made by our side of the House about the cuts to the voluntary sector, we have heard references to disability and Alzheimer's disease but no references to the 26 organisations that have had their funding cut from the Government side of the House. Fintan O'Toole published a very insightful piece about this particular proposal in The Irish Timesyesterday. The amount involved is €7 million, which is spread across these 26 organisations, many of which employ people on a part-time basis and pay part-time wages for full-time jobs. These organisations are more or less doing the job of Government.
The leader of Fianna Fáil in the other House has raised the issue. The acting leader of Fianna Fáil has raised it here, as has Senator van Turnhout. It is becoming a major issue. If the Government thinks that the medical card fiasco was something terrible that came down the tracks, it is nothing compared to the reaction that will come from the voluntary organisations. I fully support the proposal of Senator MacSharry that the Taoiseach should come before this House and explain this miserly cut. What kind of lack of humanity does this Government contain that somebody somewhere with a stroke of a pen can get rid of an amount of money that is modest in the overall scheme of things considering the waste that is involved and whose removal will have such a detrimental effect on 26 voluntary organisations? It is a disgrace and those on the Government side of the House should be ashamed of themselves.