John O'Mahony (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I want to raise an issue I have raised on numerous occasions, namely, the motorised transport grant. It relates to the issue raised by Senator Dolan regarding people with disabilities. These grants were suspended in 2013. They allowed people to get to work and allowed families to care for their loved ones in their own homes and to bring them to appointments and hospitals. It was suspended in May 2013 and was to have been restored by October of that year. We are approaching the end of 2018 and have seen the biggest spending on health this country has ever seen, but there does not seem to be anything on the horizon with regard to restoring the motorised transport grant. Essentially, it saves the taxpayer money because some of the people who availed of that grant were able to remain outside of hospital care, a situation that changed when it was suspended. Will the Leader invite the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Finian McGrath, to come to the House to outline the situation regarding the motorised transport grant? I have raised it as a Commencement Matter on numerous occasions.

On a happier note, a sports story uplifted the nation over the weekend. I congratulate Mullinalaghta on defeating Kilmacud Crokes in the Leinster senior football club final. I have nothing against Kilmacud Crokes. I admire it as a fantastic club but its club area covers an area with the same population of Leitrim while Mullinalaghta is a club from a small half parish with 440 people that epitomised what can be done if one takes on the world as underdog. I commend it and both I and the country rejoiced. Anyone with an interest in sport saw the club's joy and its return to its native village crossroads. It is not just the story of the year; it is the story of the decade in many respects.