Anne Rabbitte (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is very welcome. I wish her all the best in her role.

The current programme for Government is no different from the previous one. It commits to working tirelessly, alongside stakeholders, advocates, families and departmental officials, to ensure the commitments made under the programme are not just words on paper but actions with impact. As my colleague Senator Murphy O'Mahony noted, when the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, instructed that responsibility for disability services be moved from the Department of Health to the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, he did so on the basis that we all have health issues, including people with disabilities. That move symbolised much more than just a movement of functions from one Department to another. It was a move of clear leadership indicating that we understood that people with intellectual, physical, sensory and acquired disabilities all had rights to housing, education, employment, inclusion in the community, disability services, social protection, health supports and cultural participation.

The next national disability strategy will be the most important and transformative policy work the Government will have. It is across-Government, cross-departmental and across the desk of every Minister and Secretary General. It is imperative that when the national disability steering group is stood up - I wish the Minister of State all the best as chair - there are tangible measures outlined within the framework document. I hope it continues to sit under the pillars of housing and employment and that we hold the various Departments to account.

The Minister of State said in her opening contribution that €3.2 billion was allocated to the HSE. She does not have another cent of access in any other Department. The only funding she has outside that €3.2 billion is the €3.5 million that is allocated to the disability participation and awareness fund. For the past three years, that scheme has been the definition of putting down green shoots in other Departments, with 40 allocated projects undertaken in conjunction with Rethink Ireland. Outside of officialdom and the interference of anybody, the Departments will now be able to pick up those 40 green shoots and the other 18 projects being allocated as we speak, which the Minister of State will get to announce in June.

This engagement goes right across employment and sport. The No Barriers Foundation, which was late in receiving its grant funding, was previously allocated €389,000 under Rethink Ireland. The Together Academy supports people with Down's syndrome, with level 3 allocations being made in order that they can make their pathway through education. The reason all of this provision is there is to enable the Minister of State to ensure that other Departments allocate funding to step up and deliver services.

One of the most burning issues for me as a rural Senator is transport. The Minister of State, being from the west as well, will understand that. It has been discussed in this House, including by our colleagues in Sinn Féin who talked about €17 million being spent on transport. There is a big issue with transport if people cannot access it, and that is a huge issue in the west of Ireland, in Kerry and in Cork. That is why, a number of years ago, we allocated €5 million under transport services to ensure people have access. The Minister of State's Department has allocated €3.5 million for the upgrade of vehicles and provision of new vehicles. I find that disappointing in the sense that we need to look outside existing provision, such as the kerb-to-kerb Local Link service, and see whether we can provide a door-to-door service whereby personal assistants can take people through their front doors. The Galway Centre for Independent Living had a really good project but it seems it did not make it through come December and January.

Another initiative that has not made its way through, but should do so because it is part of Rethink Ireland, is the Wayfinding Centre. It was allocated €89,000 to train people to use transport services. The centre is located not too far from here in the old Glass Bottle site, in the constituency of the Minister, Deputy Donohoe. There is a bus, DART train and even an aeroplane there, with training provided to people with disabilities, including acquired disabilities, on how to use those services. There is still funding within the transport grant of €400,000. It would be wonderful if the staff who have been trained up to teach the people who come to the centre get their funding. I make that plea.

With tolerance from the Chair, I have a final point to make. A cross-departmental project that was worked on by the Departments of Health and Transport, under the stewardship of the then Minister, Eamon Ryan, was the recycle mobility programme. Between the two Departments, trikes were bought and one of those trikes went to Beaufort in County Kerry. Its purpose was to assist people with individual needs and children with low muscle tone. We all talk about how we do not have enough physiotherapists. If we can get children on a bike or trike and out on a greenway, they can improve their muscle tone. This funding was not just pulled out of a pot; the scheme works in conjunction with other initiatives. That funding is in the base but, unfortunately, it is not being released at the moment to the relevant organisation, namely, Variety - the Children's Charity.