I am looking for an update on the review of the reasonable accommodation fund and a timeline for the completion and publication of the review.

I thank the Minister for that clarity. I welcome the review because, as the Minister said, the take-up of these schemes is extremely low. That is very upsetting. Ireland's level of employment is very high yet the employment rate for disabled people is one of the lowest in Europe. We rank lowest, with Greece, at 32.6%. Greece's overall employment rate is not anything like Ireland's so that means we are actually the worst in Europe for the employment of disabled people. We have the largest disability employment gap i…

The Minister mentioned disabled people working part time. A lot of people are working part time but they are often in low-paid work as well. One of the things that comes through regularly at the Joint Committee on Disability Matters is people's fear of a loss of income and secondary supports if they take up employment. The secondary supports mentioned in particular are the medical card and the free travel pass. I know they can retain them for a number of years but they need them long term. A lot of disabled people …

I ask Deputy Kerrane to move the Sinn Féin amendment to the Government amendment.

In accordance with Standing Order 80(2), the division is postponed until the weekly division time this evening.

Seanad Éireann has passed the Representative Actions for the Protection of the Collective Interests of Consumers Bill 2023, without amendment, and the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022, without amendment.

In 2018, people voted for access to lawful termination of pregnancy services. It is five years on and these services are still not properly in place. Women deserve safe and unhindered access to these services. I want to see safe access zones introduced as soon as possible to ensure that women can get safe access to these services as quickly as possible. Senator Gavan of Sinn Féin was the primary sponsor of a similar safe access zones Bill introduced in the Seanad in 2021. It was drafted with the assistance of Toget…

I welcome members of the A5 Enough is Enough group to the Public Gallery. I commend them on their campaigning for the long overdue upgrade to the A5. I also pay my respects to the many families who have been bereaved as a result of accidents on this treacherous road. I commend all the speakers who outlined this issue in the audiovisual room earlier today. I mention especially Kate Corrigan who spoke so eloquently and shared with us the heart-wrenching account of the loss of her son Nathan, who died as a result of a…

I ask the Minister for an update on the recommencement of the work of the DDMBA, if alternative facilities and secretarial services have been established since the NRH indicated it wishes to cease its involvement with the scheme, the reasons given by the NRH to cease its involvement with the scheme and if he will make a statement on the matter.

I welcome the fact that the NRH is willing to discuss coming back on board with the scheme and that the board is almost in place. There have been ongoing problems with the scheme, however. It is 18 months since the board resigned. They resigned because the criteria for admittance to the scheme are far too stringent. A review of the scheme had been promised by the Minister's predecessor, which never took place. That is what led the board members to resign. I welcome the Minister's announcement this week of additiona…

The Minister referred to the Ombudsman's report. The one published last week is only the latest of many which have been critical of the various transport schemes for disabled people. The mobility allowance and motorised transport grant were found to be inequitable by an Ombudsman's report back in 2013, ten years ago. Instead of addressing the inequities at the time, the Government suspended the schemes with a promise to replace them with something much more equitable. It has not happened. When the Minister says thi…

There was an announcement yesterday about a significant expansion in third level places, which will lead to more doctors, nurses, dentists, pharmacists and vets being trained. That is welcome, but how many additional places will be created in occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, psychiatry, psychology and physiotherapy? There is a chronic shortage in these professions, particularly among children's disability network teams, CDNTs, where there is a 34% vacancy rate across all community healthcare organ…

Home care support plays a very important role in supporting older people, as well as disabled people, to live as independently as possible. While not all disabled people need or want home care support, many do require the service, including many children as well as older people. There has been a growing crisis in home care support over the past number of years. The demand for home care has grown considerably. We see an increase year on year in the number of people being approved for hours and being allocated home c…

I thank the Minister of State. We will now go to the Regional Group to conclude, with Deputies Cathal Berry and Denis Naughten sharing five minutes each.

I broadly welcome and support the national youth justice strategy. However, if adequate resources are not put into the various organisations and clubs that are mentioned in the document and there is not meaningful cross-departmental and agency co-operation, it simply will not work. We are talking about crime. There is an imbalance between what is invested in prevention and early intervention and what is put into the prison service at the other end. It is unfortunate, because we have to try and keep as many people a…

I welcome the opportunity to speak to the motion, which focuses on the need for the Government to cut back-to-school costs. I commend my party colleagues, Deputies Clarke and Mairéad Farrell, on their work in bringing this forward. The letters, emails and texts requesting the purchase of books and uniforms have already been sent by schools, in addition to schools seeking voluntary contributions from families that are anything but voluntary. Numerous families I have spoken to feel this is a huge burden. It is a burd…

I was contacted by two families last week who hope their loved ones will be admitted to the National Rehabilitation Hospital, NRH, in Dún Laoghaire. They have been told there is a waiting time of four to six months. I contacted the NRH which confirmed the waiting time, identified the issue to be staffing and stated that it is primarily a housing-related issue. The staff required in the NRH are opting to go to other hospitals in other parts of the country or abroad because they cannot afford to live in Dublin. One y…

I thank the Minister but her time is up.

The HSE contract for services for medical equipment, which includes wheelchairs, is about to end in September this year. I believe the HSE is currently undertaking a review of the existing service, so I ask that the Government ensures that the HSE engages with wheelchair users and disabled persons organisations, which include wheelchair users among their members. They should engage on their experience of the company because the average wait for a new wheelchair can be up to eight months. If people do not have a whe…

Respite plays a key role in supporting family carers and providing good experience for a person with a disability. It can help prevent or at least delay full-time residential placements. It preserves the family unit and supports family stability. I was speaking to a person in my constituency who was looking for respite for a long time for his daughter, who has quite complex needs. He said they were absolutely at breaking point. His daughter did not sleep much at all. They were awake most nights of the week. They we…