Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is something we in this Chamber should all keep to the forefront of our minds.

I would welcome a debate on transport, as requested by other Senators. This morning, the NTA published, for public consultation, details the preferred route options for the 12 sustainable transport corridors under BusConnects in Cork. The consultation period begins today and will run until 9 September. It is about increasing the bus corridor from 14 km to 93 km. I hope the public consultation process will be wide-ranging and engaging for members of the public and business owners, as well as for those who want to see public transport enhanced in Cork. I welcome the initiation of BusConnects' sustainable transport corridors in Cork.

I ask the Leader for a debate to take place before the summer holidays on health, especially the issue of intellectual disability and the Disability Action Plan Framework, which was published by the Department of Health and the purpose of which is to guide the implementation and planning of a disability capacity review. This morning, many of us from Cork received correspondence from the Cope Foundation, an organisation which supports 2,800 people with intellectual disabilities, as well as families, and which employs more than 1,200 people in Cork. The foundation is asking for the pace of planning for the implementation of disability capacity review to 2032 to be increased. It is looking for its inclusion in the budgeting process of 2023 and an accessible budget announcement for disability, which is a very fair request. I ask that the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, is invited to the House to outline her Department's plan for the disability capacity review to 2032 and that there would be widespread engagement by the HSE. There is a fundamental problem with the HSE in terms of its work regarding disability. To be fair, the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Rabbitte, is a very good Minister, but we need the HSE to engage with organisations and families in order that a continuum of care can be provided.