I thank the Cathaoirleach for selecting this item on the Adjournment and the Minister of State, Deputy Callely, for being present. There is an urgent need for additional funding for service provision from the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Martin, for the health boards and service providers for people with disabilities. It is important that the Minister realises that there is a crisis. There have been cuts, with the worst yet to come, in the provision of funds for services such as respite care, residential care and continuing education for people with intellectual disabilities.
The appalling cases about which many of us heard from the protesters at the gates of Leinster House yesterday and those we know in our communities are an indictment of the Government and its disregard for and neglect of people with a disability. The hardships endured by parents, carers and voluntary organisations when told that respite care can no longer be provided for their loved ones cannot be understood without witnessing it first-hand. Many elderly people worry about what the future holds for their loved ones when they pass on.
People with a disability, and the organisations which represent them, are the forgotten people of Ireland. The Taoiseach proclaimed that he was their champion, yet not too long ago he refused to talk to people outside the Mansion House. Yesterday he was nowhere to be seen when the protesters came to the gates of Leinster House. Many more would have been there if they had access to respite care.
The cutbacks in funding are a denial of basic services to people with great needs. An extra €35 million would address the needs of and eliminate the hardship endured by many. The allocation of €75 million for the new Government aircraft would adequately provide for people with special needs, yet many are struggling to provide respite care. Many have received letters which state schools can no longer provide further and continuing education for people with special needs over 18 years of age. I ask the Government to recall these letters and allay the fears of the many parents concerned. Is it not ironic that only a fortnight ago, the Minister for Education and Children, Deputy Noel Dempsey, was in the House telling us about access to education for the disadvantaged, yet now another arm of government is sending out letters stating people with disabilities over 18 years of age no longer have a future in education? This cannot be reconciled.
The people protesting outside the gates of Leinster House were fuming with anger with regard to this issue. There was no trace of any Government representative – Minister or Minister of State, Deputy or Senator – to tell them the facts. What is required is a mere €35 million to alleviate hardship. A person who has declared himself the champion of the disabled has questions to answer. There is also a fear that the Taoiseach will portray himself as the European champion of the disabled at the opening of the Special Olympics. If this mockery takes place, the anger unleashed yesterday is only a symptom of what is to follow. I hope the Minister of State will convey to the Taoiseach, if he is not already aware, that if the crisis continues, those whose loved ones are denied basic rights to respite care and continuing education will vent their anger in many ways after the Special Olympics.
There are now 600 people on waiting lists with no access to a service. There are a further 1,500 on waiting lists who must be treated as ordinary citizens and given their entitlements and rights. There is also anger about the Government's failure to bring forward a rights-based disability Bill, the lack of which is a major concern. While it is kept in abeyance, that anger will fester. Why does the Government have to torture not only carers and parents but also these unfortunate people who also have rights? If it continues to deny them their rights, we can no longer say we are a caring society and that we treat all our people equally.