Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 28 Sep 2023

Vol. 1043 No. 1

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions

Deputy Pearse Doherty

Go raibh maith agat, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle. Mar atá a fhios againn uilig sa Teach seo, chímid go bhfuil líon na ngardaí ag titim anois bliain i ndiaidh bliana agus ag an am céanna an méid nach bhfuil á dhéanamh ag an Rialtas i leith an ama seo. Chímid nach mbaintear na spriocanna earcaíochta atá ag an Rialtas amach bliain i ndiaidh bliana agus anois tá aighneas tionsclaíoch fógartha ag An Garda Síochána agus níl an tAire le feiceáil ó thaobh seo a réiteach.

I will take the opportunity to welcome the seizure of a substantial drugs cargo on Tuesday and commend the Defence Forces personnel, gardaí and customs officers involved. The seizure represents a very significant blow to international crime and to the criminal gangs that heap misery on our communities.

It is a timely reminder of how crucial it is that An Garda Síochána has the resources it needs to tackle 21st century crime. It is also a reminder to all of us how crucial the gardaí are in keeping communities safe. Gardaí do difficult, brave work every day to protect our communities and keep them safe. Too often, however, they feel they are being let down or abandoned by a Government that has totally failed to provide them with the leadership and investment they deserve. Unfortunately, under the Tánaiste's watch and particularly under Fine Gael's watch, morale in the Garda is at an all-time low. Garda numbers are falling as gardaí leave the force. We see that year after year. Targets for new recruits are missed time and again as people do not see a career in the Garda as an option worth pursuing anymore, and specialised units are being disbanded. The likes of burglary and domestic violence units being disbanded in Limerick and Dublin is a cause of great concern.

We just passed the fifth anniversary of the publication of the report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland, and it is a sad state of affairs that many of the recommendations contained in this report still remain unimplemented. It is no wonder that crime levels are on the increase. Communities deserve better. They deserve to feel safe and protected. They deserve to know that if they need help, the Garda will be there for them. Instead, people feel unsafe in their own homes and communities. After 12 years of Fine Gael justice Minister after justice Minister, the Garda is in crisis and the communities are less safe than ever. Fine Gael's soft-touch approach to policing has pushed the Garda to breaking point and ordinary communities are forced to pay the price of Government failure. This is a crisis, and we do not need any more vague promises from Government or more photo opportunities or glossy announcements that amount to nothing. Government needs to get to grips with crime and it needs to do it now.

Sinn Féin has outlined its plan to tackle crime. We need to fix this crisis in crime and policing by commencing the biggest Garda recruitment drive in the history of the State and by ensuring that we have the conditions to retain current gardaí. We need a retention task force to report back in a number of weeks. We need to move gardaí away from non-core duties. We need to publish the Garda Reserve regulations to allow recruitment to resume, and we need to increase Garda recruitment by increasing the training allowance and reviewing the recruitment restrictions. None of this has been done by Government, however.

Now, we have the possibility of an industrial dispute that is escalating. The Minister for Justice needs to be present. Her hands-off approach is not working. We have to ask the question, as many people are, what is the Minister doing to ensure the proposed action by the Garda does not go ahead and that the issues at the centre of this are resolved? As I said, the hands-off approach by the Minister for Justice is not working. It is incomprehensible that she would allow this to get to the stage where the gardaí have to go on strike. When will the Government end the scandal of their soft-touch approach to policing so that communities can feel safe and protected?

The Tánaiste

I welcome the Deputy raising the issue. Yesterday's drugs seizure and the operation over the last number of days reveals more than anything that there is no soft-touch approach in respect of crime in this country and particularly in respect of drug trafficking cartels. What we witnessed were very high standards and very high professionalism being demonstrated by An Garda Síochána, the Air Corp, the Naval Service and the Army Rangers, working co-operatively and collaboratively in a joint task force. It was the largest haul ever in the history of the State. It was the first time ever that we deployed the Army Rangers in such an action, as we did this week. Our intelligence services worked with European Union member states and agencies across the world to combine intelligence, and very effective and professional actions resulted in the seizure of very significant drugs. That represents the commitment of the State.

I applaud the bravery of An Garda Síochána in the conduct of its daily tasks. I applaud the bravery of the Air Corps pilots' precision piloting and, indeed, that of the Army Rangers and our Naval Service. It illustrates that they are very often in harm's way in upholding law and order and taking on and dealing with crime barons.

The Deputy would have to acknowledge the very significant inroads made in the north of the city in the last number of years in respect of some of the larger criminal gangs, with very significant numbers of criminals being put behind bars and the break-up of those gangs, many of whose members had to leave the country. That is not evidence of a soft touch by Government in respect of these criminal gangs or in terms of crime. We will always remain tough on criminals as they ply their trade, but we will also work very strongly in communities in terms of supporting them through proper community-based policing and in supporting community organisations on a broader range of issues that arise.

Approximately €2 billion has been allocated to An Garda Síochána this year. That is unprecedented. It will allow for ongoing recruitment of new gardaí and Garda staff. At the end of July 2023, there were 13,943 Garda members across the country. That is an increase over previous years, although there was a problem during Covid, as we know, in terms of Templemore, training and so on. That is now recovering in terms of the number of trainees. Numbers in Templemore continue to increase now with attestations every three months. Some 135 trainees entered the training college in February and another 154 entered in May. Another class of 174 trainees, the largest since Covid, entered the college at the end of July, continuing to build momentum and recruitment. There are approximately 470 trainees now in active training. Two more classes are due into Templemore in October. We are, therefore, on track to having between 700 and 800 new recruits into the college in 2023.

The issue around the Garda roster that was introduced by the Commissioner is clearly an issue that has caused considerable unrest and concern within the ranks of An Garda Síochána. The Deputy mentioned the report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland. It recommended changes to rosters and so on but in my view, these issues are best resolved with the industrial relations mechanisms. That is where they should be resolved because it is understood that there are legitimate and genuine concerns. I would respectfully suggest that the way to resolve it is through the industrial relations machinery.

Deputy Pearse Doherty

I acknowledged the work the Garda does in our communities keeping people and our communities safe, and particularly in regard to the operation in the south during the week. However, Government needs to support that. The facts are very clear. Since this Government has been in office, every single year, there has been a reduction in the number of gardaí in this State.

The Tánaiste talked about the number of people who are going through training and attestation, but he did not say that the numbers leaving the Garda are actually higher than the numbers coming through. Every year, the situation is getting worse. We have more people either retiring or leaving. The number resigning is at an all-time high as a result of issues with morale within the Garda. The Tánaiste spoke about the commission's recommendations; they are five years old. Many of the recommendations are not in place. There are major issues here and the Government has not supported or provided the necessary tools for the Garda.

The reality, as we see from the Central Statistics Office, CSO, data, is that crime is on the increase and communities feel less safe than they did before. The Government needs to recognise that 12 years of Fine Gael Ministers for Justice has resulted in the situation we are in now. We had 241 fewer gardaí in June than we did at the start of the year.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

I thank the Deputy.

Deputy Pearse Doherty

These are the facts.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Go raibh maith agat. Táimid thar am, a Theachta.

Deputy Pearse Doherty

Every single year since the Tánaiste has been a Minister in this Government, there have been fewer gardaí.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

I call the Tánaiste to respond.

Deputy Pearse Doherty

What is the Tánaiste going to do? The talks need to go ahead and it is hoped we will get a resolution.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

The Deputy is way over his time.

Deputy Pearse Doherty

What is the Government going to do to support the work of the Garda by increasing numbers and by moving members of the force off non-core duties?

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Please, Deputy, we are way over time.

Deputy Martin Browne

Hear, hear.

The Tánaiste

The Government is investing in An Garda Síochána and will invest in the force. The Deputy knows well that the Covid-19 pandemic interrupted the recruitment processes. We all know this. This was a significant challenge in terms of Templemore and so forth, but this aspect has recovered and is recovering. The numbers coming into the college now are increasing, although, because we have full employment in the economy, it has been a challenging time for all State services in terms of recruitment. This has been the case not just for the Garda but also for the Naval Service, the Army and the Air Corps, and more generally across all uniformed services.

We know this. The population is increasing, the number of people coming in to work in Ireland from the European Union is increasing and the number of work permits is increasing. All of this is evidence of and a challenge concerning having got to a position of full employment in an economy that, post-Covid-19, has proven to be robust. We will invest, and continue to invest in, resourcing An Garda Síochána, on the equipment front and in terms of facilities and personnel. It is important that we do this and we are committed to doing it. I agree with the Deputy that the industrial relations machinery is the basis and the mechanism to resolve the existing issues around the roster.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Táimid ag bogadh ar aghaidh anois go dtí an Teachta Cian O'Callaghan.

Deputy Cian O'Callaghan

This country treats disabled people shamefully. Disabled children and their families must battle from the day they are born. It is outrageous that their biggest battle is often with the State to try to get basic services, like an assessment of need, essential therapies or a school place. More than 17,000 children are now waiting to access children's disability network teams, CDNTs. More than 10,000 of them have been waiting for more than a year, with no intervention and no therapy. This wholesale and pervasive State neglect has disastrous and lifelong consequences.

Children have a small and critical window in which to get essential therapies. If they do not, their development will be limited and they will be prevented from reaching their full potential. Often, when children turn 18, whatever meagre supports that do exist then disappear. What remains is fragmented and threadbare. Disabled adults used to have access to supports for personal transport, but ten years ago these schemes were dismantled by the then Fine Gael and Labour Party Government. A decade later, there is still no proper replacement scheme. Transport is about access to education, securing employment or just being able to meet with family and friends. Above all, it means being able to live independently. All of this is being denied to disabled people by a contemptuous and cruel State.

What is the answer of the Tánaiste's Government to this? It wants to demonise and divide disabled people. Under new plans, disabled people will be subjected to medical assessment and categorised into three tiers. This proposal is a carbon copy of a system introduced in the UK under austerity in 2008. It is a discredited policy that led to a disabled man, Errol Graham, a 57-year-old grandfather, starving to death after his out-of-work and housing benefits were stopped. His emaciated body, of just 4.5 stones, was discovered by the bailiffs sent in to evict him. Is this really the model this country wants to emulate?

Yesterday, the Taoiseach seemed to indicate it was. He cited "Benefits Street", a UK television show, that vilified working-class people as a relevant reference point on this topic. The Minister for Social Protection has said she wants to reform the system because disabled people have high levels of poverty and low levels of employment. Does she not think that maybe, just maybe, the State's abject failure to provide vital services, be they medical, educational or transportational, has something to do with this situation? Does the Tánaiste agree with the Taoiseach's view that "Benefits Street" is relevant to the rationale for this reform? Does he also agree with the segregation of disabled people following medical assessment into three separate tiers?

The Tánaiste

Is the Deputy talking about disability reforms in respect of payments?

Deputy Cian O'Callaghan

Yes.

The Tánaiste

More broadly, I take issue with some of the language the Deputy used. I know he speaks in good faith, but there is no agenda on this side of the House to demonise any person with special needs or a disability or, indeed, to divide the disability community. I wish to make this very clear.

The State has more to do in respect of providing for disability services and for people's special needs. I refer to the totality of services being provided in health, education, childcare, housing, employability, and providing opportunities for employment. Across the full gamut of services, the State has progressed in many areas, but has much more to do. Over the past 30 years, and certainly since the late 1990s, I would argue that significant progress has been made in the area of education with special needs. We have mainstreamed and transformed education significantly in terms of the provision of special needs assistants, SNAs and the recognition of autism as a special category, which was not recognised until the late 1990s. It is hard to believe this, but these are the facts. Over time, however, special classes and interventions have been provided.

Turning to health, again, in terms of basic services, diagnostics and so on, there have been improvements. Regarding therapies, the situation in this regard is not where I would like it to be. We have made it clear to the HSE that we are not satisfied in respect of access to therapies for children with special needs. In particular, the progressing disability services for children programme was developed by the HSE some years ago. In my view, it has not achieved what it set out to do. This is especially the case in terms of special schools and access to therapies, which I believe should be undertaken in the context of a multidisciplinary approach. Ongoing engagement with the Minister for Health and the HSE is happening in respect of these issues, namely, access to occupational therapists, speech and language therapists and other therapeutic interventions required by children with special needs.

Moving to the mobility issue the Deputy raised, the points he made are legitimate. The Minister for Finance is examining one aspect of this concerning taxation and reforms in this context but also regarding other measures we can provide to enable people to have regular access in a transport context. The Minister for Transport is also focused on this subject. The cost of disability report was published in 2021 and it established that the additional costs of disability run across several policy areas, including housing, equipment, aids and appliances, and care and assistance. We are reflecting on this issue in terms of how we can now mainstream this in terms of payments and so on.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Go raibh maith agat.

The Tánaiste

There is a Green Paper on disability reform, but no decisions have been made in this respect.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

I thank the Tánaiste. We are way over time.

The Tánaiste

Consultation is ongoing with the stakeholders.

Deputy Cian O'Callaghan

I thank the Tánaiste for his response. The "Benefits Street" programme did demonise welfare recipients and for the Taoiseach to reference it in a discussion on this topic is not appropriate. Does the Tánaiste agree that referencing television programmes that demonise welfare recipients is not an appropriate thing for anyone in the Government to do, including the Taoiseach?

There are two specific things the Government should do now to support disabled people. First, it should introduce a weekly cost-of-disability payment and this should be done in the budget. Will the Government do this? Second, as I said, more than 17,000 children are waiting to access children's disability network teams. Section 39 workers are not paid the same rates as HSE staff, as they used to be. The staff vacancy rate in disability network teams rose to 34% last year. It is as high as 60% in some teams, which is utterly unacceptable. Will the Government pay section 39 workers the same rates as HSE staff? Will it introduce in the budget a cost-of-disability payment?

The Tánaiste

Regarding these two things, in terms of the cost of disability, the report has been published, as I said. The Department of Social Protection has taken actions to improve employment supports for people with disabilities. Additionally, the earnings disregard for those receiving disability allowance and the blind pension has increased several times in recent years.

A lot of action has been taken to improve incomes. We are looking at the report on the cost of disability in the context of the budget. A range of lump-sum payments were included in budget 2023 to address increases in the cost of living. The review of the reasonable accommodation fund and the disability awareness support scheme was published recently.

On the employment issue, the wage subsidy scheme is being reviewed, with a public consultation being held over the summer. We must do better in employing people with disabilities and giving better opportunities. This applies both to the State, through its Departments and agencies, acting to reach the target that was set and so forth, and to the private sector generally. That is an important aspect if we are to facilitate the employment of people with disabilities.

On the section 39 workers, discussions are still under way and there is engagement between the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and the social partners involved. Those discussions will continue with a view to achieving a resolution of that issue.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

On Saturday, 7 October, a few days before the budget is announced, the Cost of Living Coalition will hold a national demonstration. Assembling at Parnell Square at 1 p.m., trade unionists, student unions, pensioners' groups, housing groups, anti-poverty activists and many more will march to the Dáil to demand urgent action to deal with the crushing impact of the cost-of-living, housing and homelessness crises. People will join the demonstration for many reasons. I urge anybody who is affected by or angry about the cost-of-living and housing crises to do so. People will be there because of homelessness, unaffordable rents, unaffordable childcare, mortgage interest hikes, grocery price hikes and much more.

I will concentrate today on one aspect of the cost-of-living crisis, namely, the shocking figures produced this week by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, which show that an incredible 11% of electricity customers, or 256,000 people, are now in arrears. That number is up by 72,000 since January this year. Equally incredible is that 168,000 gas customers are now in arrears, which is an increase of 24,000 since the beginning of the year. One in five gas customers is in arrears. The figures also show that disconnections have jumped dramatically since the lifting of the moratorium on disconnections. In April, only 15 electricity customers, although that is too many, were cut off. The number had gone up to 132 by May and to 145 by June. After 21 gas customers were cut off in April, the number jumped to 132 and then jumped again, in June, to 145. This is happening during the summer months, not the winter months into which we are facing.

The Tánaiste may say in his response that some of the energy companies have started to reduce their prices, but the price reductions in gas and electricity are a drop in the ocean compared with what has happened. In the past two years, electricity prices have more than doubled - a more than 100% increase - to the approximately €2,000 a year people are now paying. According to the household energy price index, people in this country are paying 80% more than the EU average for electricity and gas. They are paying over €900 a year more than the average across the rest of Europe. All of this is happening while we have seen a profits bonanza at the ESB and the gas companies, with their profits jumping to absolutely staggering levels.

Will the Tánaiste immediately reintroduce the moratorium on disconnections as we head into the winter months? Second, will he introduce price caps on energy in order that people pay energy costs that are least down to the level of the rest of Europe, rather than double the prices in the rest of Europe, as they currently are?

The Tánaiste

On the Deputy's overall point on the cost of living, over the past 12 months, the Government has responded swiftly and strongly to cushion the impact of prices on households, businesses and farmers, with supports of up to €12 billion. That is not an inconsiderable sum of money by any yardstick. The Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, found that the one-off measures we announced as part of budget 2023 insulated most households from rising energy prices last winter. I acknowledge that people are under pressure and the cost of living is a big issue for them. However, over the past year, our measures supported people, particularly those on fixed incomes, including pensioners, carers and people living with a disability. There were eight lump-sum payments in 2023 alone: the double child benefit payment; the autumn double payment; the €400 lump-sum fuel allowance payment; the €500 lump-sum payment to families receiving the working family payment; the €500 lump-sum payment to people in receipt of disability allowance, the blind pension or the invalidity pension; the €200 lump-sum payment to people in receipt of the living alone allowance; the €500 lump-sum payment to carers; and the Christmas double payment. I could go on. The weekly social welfare pension rates went up by €12. There were three €200 energy credits over the winter months. There were many interventions. Those interventions were unprecedented because we had an unprecedented energy crisis, caused mainly, as we are well aware, by both post-Covid supply and demand problems and the war in Ukraine. We have further problems now with the reduction in production by some of the big oil producers, which is causing a significant rise in the cost of fuel. The Government will examine the cost-of-living issues in the context of the forthcoming budget. In essence, a combination of the budget and a cost-of-living package will again endeavour and work to ease pressure on people, especially in the winter months and in respect of pressure they are coming under as a result of price increases.

The Deputy mentioned housing. The bottom line is that 2022 saw the highest level of delivery of new-build social housing since 1975. More than 10,000 social homes were delivered last year and we are heading towards an even larger number this year. A total of 26,000 social houses alone have been provided since the Government came to office. That timeframe includes the Covid period, when construction was suspended on a number of occasions. There has been significant progress on housing but we have a long way to go and more to do in that regard.

When it comes to the specifics of what we will do, we are not going to go the Liz Truss way or the way of the British Conservative Party in how it dealt with the price increase crisis last year. We saw what happened there. However, we will work to alleviate pressures on the public, including people in need as a result of price increases.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

The Tánaiste listing the Government's so-called achievements will come as cold comfort to the hundreds of thousands of people who are in arrears. If its measures were so effective, why are 256,000 electricity customers and one in five gas customers in arrears? This is before we head into the winter months. People who are in that situation face a terrifying prospect. If it is all about the war in Ukraine, how does the Tánaiste explain electricity and gas prices here being almost double what they are in the rest of Europe? I will explain it for him. The ESB's profits jumped 30% at the beginning of this year to an incredible €676 million, which is 100% more than it made two years previous to that. It is the same picture for SSE Airtricity, Energia and so on, all of which have seen their profits go through the roof. What will the Tánaiste do about this profiteering? He did not answer my question. Will he reintroduce immediately the moratorium on disconnections? Why can the Government not bring down unit energy prices to the same level as those in the rest of Europe?

The Tánaiste

The ESB is a State company. I take it the Deputy is a strong supporter of State companies. If he had his way, he would have more State companies across the board.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

I would if they were like they to used to be, with proper energy prices.

The Tánaiste

We use the dividend to enable us to introduce the measures to alleviate the pressure. We have taken measures in respect of excess profits at the energy companies, as the Deputy knows. We have taken those measures and we expect revenues to come in, some before the end of the year, including the windfall tax, and more next year, which we will reallocate back into measures to reduce the pressure on the public.

We will take measures over the coming months to try to ease pressure on people due to energy price increases. That will manifest in the budget and the cost-of-living package, the specifics of which will be announced by the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform. The Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, was very clear - it is not me saying it - that we did cushion the most vulnerable and the three to four lowest income deciles in the State. That is independent and objective data and analysis.

Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice

The Tánaiste speaks about Ireland having full employment, and about a surplus and a budget, but I ask that he spares a thought for a father with whom we have been dealing over the last nine or ten months. Unfortunately, some children with autism, including his child, are non-verbal. His two other siblings are also living in the house. The child is under the adult age at 17 but is getting stronger. He takes food out of the fridge and pegs it on the floor. Some 20 T-shirts a week must be bought when a tantrum is thrown. He wrecks the mirrors of the car and he is incontinent. The father is trying to keep the family together.

We have got on to the HSE. Ironically, we are told that money is not a problem in these cases. The problem is that for children under adult age, there does not appear to be places for them or full-time residential care.

We have a lot of good stories to tell in this country but unfortunately those children are left behind. In this case, they were promised respite, and yes one night a week came. They were promised carers for five days a week but they never showed up. Given the way it treats young children with disabilities, is this the Ireland the Tánaiste envisages and is this the way the Government should be catering for them? Why over a number of years have we decimated residential care for those children under the adult age? Ironically, they have been told that if they can work it for the next ten months until the child reaches 18, they will be guaranteed a place.

I presume every other Deputy here, as I do, has a list as long as his or her arm of the fathers and mothers who, down through the years, have tried to help these adults for as long as they are able. However, when they look for residential care, it is not there. We have failed youngsters under the age of 18 and we do not have the places for the adults over 18 years of age. What is the Government going to do?

I will give the Tánaiste an example. I spoke to the Brothers of Charity the other day. If the Brothers of Charity decided to buy a house in the morning, there is no budget there. One must go through the council and a process. I was told it would take two years. That is what it would take for them to get a house because the council would own it. In many cases, where there were difficult cases, two or three children would be brought into a house and carers would be brought in. There is, however, no capital budget for the likes of the Brothers of Charity or organisations like that to buy a house quickly. It is a process one must go through and it is not working.

The Tánaiste

I thank Deputy Fitzmaurice for raising this issue. I do not have access to the individual case he raised but I do not doubt what he said. The experience the Deputy has articulated is not in any shape or form satisfactory in respect of that particular family or, indeed, for families in similar situations with what would appear to be a young child, young adult or teenager on the severe side of the autism spectrum. In many ways the trend over the last two decades has been to move away from residential care and the institutionalisation of young people generally in care. I have often thought that there needs to be modification of that in some respects. That has been a trend and decongregation is still happening, which has caused concerns in communities in respect of disabilities more generally. The professional view, with which I generally agree, has been that the more we can facilitate young people and children in the community, the better. There will be children and young people who will need residential care and families who will need respite care.

It seems that the critical issue is the recruitment of carers and professional people who can deal with children and young people who have a diagnosis of severe autism. How this has evolved is not optimal. The Deputy suggested the local authorities and the services combined would buy with the HSE. The provider could be the Brothers of Charity, as in this case, or some other provider but it could access or acquire a house, which can be done. Carers would then recruited and it would become a residence for a number of individuals. I believe it needs something much more bespoke than that, in terms of the professional multidisciplinary teams required, so the person has a good quality of life. It is not just about securing accommodation, but the families do need respite. There are shortcomings in respect of respite and residential care. There is capital allocation and there is funding to enable this to happen. It should not take two years to acquire a house. I will talk to the Minister for Health. I do not know if the Deputy can give us the details of the case but his point is there are other cases as well and I believe other Deputies can raise cases also.

Even when people become adults, there are many emergency cases in families where, for example, the carer may pass away. Very often these become emergency cases for accommodation. They get resolved in an emergency context but with proper planning and co-ordination between the different services they could be resolved earlier with an earlier more co-ordinated approach between all the authorities and the services.

Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice

The Tánaiste is correct in saying that some people are able to live with a small bit of help, and that has tended to be what has happened over the last number of years, but what appears to have happened in this case is that the youngster has severe autism and is getting stronger, wrecking the house and breaking up cars. The father is looking after this child on his own and he cannot cater for him.

Let us consider what has happened in the overall context of this. We have fewer spaces for youngsters under adult age and we are now subbing the service out to private operators. From what I can see, having looked at this issue over the past seven or eight months, the private operators want cases but they do not want difficult cases. This child went to a private operator for a weekend but did not last a day. We pay the private operators big money. It seems to be a policy fault that we give private operators big money to try to sort this problem out but it is not working because they want the handy cases not the difficult cases. We must make sure we invest because those youngsters and their parents deserve to have a place. In this case, a single parent is looking after the child and it is wrecking their head. People break up.

The Tánaiste

I agree with the Deputy that the State should be the key provider in severe cases or cases that have complexity attached to them. That is one of the reasons, when coming into government, we wanted the disability brief moved to a different Department in order to get a more coherent and holistic approach to the issue of disability. It has taken too long given all the transfers that have happened. I do not want to place blame left, right or centre, but with everything the HSE is responsible for, this is an area that has not been comprehensively addressed. There was a time when we had annual plans and so on in terms of capital, residential respite, and providing supports without respite or residential, depending where people were on the spectrum.

Progress has been made on a number of fronts but in the context of severe cases, the Deputy is correct in saying that many operators will want the less complex cases. There is a gap and there is a problem.