It is incredible to hear the Taoiseach say that everything is fine, no worries, the Government is in charge, everything is under control. When one hears the Taoiseach say that the Minister of State, Deputy Tim O'Malley, is working to the best of his abilities and we should leave him alone I wonder whether the Taoiseach understand the degree of shortfall, and the problems and trauma it creates for people with intellectual disabilities and their families?

He need only look at his national intellectual disability database which states the problem in black and white. Apart from the absence of standards, a serious problem with which we must deal, 1,906 people with intellectual disabilities will need places for residential services in the coming year. In 2006 only 255 places were given out. Is the Taoiseach telling the rest of those people that there is no problem? That is the impression he gives us. Is he telling the 1,877 people who are looking for respite services or residential support services that they will get places in the coming year? That has not been their experience in previous years. Will the 264 people looking for day services get places next year? These are the answers we need.

Is the Taoiseach able to tell those aging parents, who are worried sick that if they do not survive the year their children will be left without care or services, that they will get residential places? What will the Taoiseach say to those looking for places who do not have places and who on past experience will not be able to get places?

To be specific, in an area with a fast-growing population, my area in north Dublin, which the Taoiseach knows, the number of residential places sought——

The Deputy's time has concluded.

This is my final point but it is important to state the reality so that the Taoiseach can say whether it will be addressed. A total of 115 people sought residential places in areas 6,7 and 8 of the Health Service Executive in the past year. Of those 32 got places. Is the Taoiseach saying that everything is under control or will he tell admit there are serious problems and tell us he will deal with them in the year ahead, before the general election? That is what people want to know.

I apologise if I am repeating myself but I said yesterday and this morning that A Vision for Change spells out the difficulty and the areas where there are insufficient staff. It points out where we need additional teams and resources. That is why the Minister of State, Deputy Tim O'Malley, and his colleagues in the Department of Health and Children, produced the report of the expert group on mental health this year in January which covers adults and children. It is the blueprint for the next few years, built on what has been done in recent years.

Deputy Sargent is right, that report shows that we have a five year programme to bring the service up to what it requires. We are into year two. The Health Service Executive, HSE, says that it has 45 child and adolescent mental health teams and needs 40 more. Until we get that 40 we will not have satisfied the requirement. It is not a question of saying that everything is right. That is what the report highlights. That is why we put the resources into it and why the expenditure has risen so much. Apart from the requirement for €150 million to finish the closure of the old hospitals as recommended in the 1984 report, Mental Health Planning for the Future, all of that expenditure goes on staff. We spent an additional €26 million on the eight teams set up this year.

The staff have not all been recruited, not because anybody was sitting on his or her hands, but because it is hard to get them. The HSE is committed to doing that. Next year it needs the same until we reach the 40 teams, 32 of which are still outstanding. That will deal with the assessments and the increase in consultant posts, from 200 to 300 posts, which we have begun and will continue.

Deputy Sargent also mentioned the campaign by St. Michael's House and others to deal with the residential waiting lists for the people of various ages who depend mainly on their parents. This will enable them to feel secure in their old age that there will be proper residential accommodation for their children. Over the past few years we have invested substantial resources in the bricks and mortar required. Most of these organisations, of which there are several around the country, such as St. Michael's House in Deputy Sargent's area, are building new houses and renovating houses to make them suitable for the staff to work with groups of between four and six elderly or young people to protect them for the future.

They have quite long waiting lists, which are growing even though we have invested and they acknowledge that we have done so. Due to the age profile, they have problems and made the case this year for additional resources which they received. Funding must be provided every year. They can do only so much each year but they have built up a waiting list which the Minister for Health and Children and the Minister for Finance, Deputy Cowen, who started this programme when he was Minister for Health and Children, require further resources to address in order to have more units in 2007. They have made their case and the Minister is dealing with it.

That is only the residential part of the work. Many other areas are being dealt with, apart from those discussed this morning, for example the national strategy action on suicide prevention, Reach Out, the work on the central mental hospital, and many other areas with which we must deal. Everything is not perfect but at least we have an action programme which we are resourcing and staffing and which is making a significant difference and must continue to do so until we get on top of this problem.

Members should acknowledge the major increase in staff this year whereby we have employed 98 consultant psychiatrists in recent years. This year alone we have taken on 400 additional staff but we have some way to go to reach the figure of 1,800 outlined in the report last January.

The Taoiseach is right, there is some way to go. Listening to him, one would think it is somebody's else's problem, such as those in St. Michael's House. I was talking about national figures and Government responsibility. The Taoiseach will be familiar with the saying to the effect that the greatness of a nation is to be judged on the way it treats its most vulnerable. By that yardstick, this Government is appalling. I refer also to standards. Surely lessons have been learned. The former Minister, Deputy Woods, certainly knows a thing or two about failing to keep an eye on residential institutions in the past. The Leas Cross report tells us a thing or two about not having sufficient inspection in nursing homes. Where are the standards, the inspections and the yardsticks for people in residential care with an intellectual disability? The national standards for disability services report which dates back to 2004 has not been implemented. We have no uniform costs——

The Deputy's time is concluded.

——no standards or inspections to uphold any standards, yet the Taoiseach stated more resources have been invested. How is that being checked? How are the people working in those institutions to measure the standards and what is expected of them, other than the standards they set for themselves? Does the Taoiseach not believe there is a need to refocus Government policy so that by the time he leaves office, he will not just be issuing press releases stating, "We did our best", he will be able to say, "We met needs". Currently, needs are not being met and it is being left to voluntary bodies to make up for that.

Deputy Sargent's time has concluded.

I do not accept that. I agree that voluntary bodies play a big part but they are almost entirely funded by State grants from capital programmes, as is right.

There is a lot of fund raising.

They do excellent fund raising. The Mental Health Act is considered to be one of the most advanced of its kind. The final part of it only came into operation on 1 November last. That is where the powers are set out.

No standards are in place.

The Taoiseach should be allowed to speak without interruption.

That is not true. Legislation has only been implemented since 1 November this year. Deputy Sargent's accusation is totally wrong.

There are no standards.

Is Deputy Sargent saying the Mental Health Act that has only come fully into operation since 1 November this year is a nonsense?

I was not talking about the Act. The professionals tell me——

The Taoiseach should be allowed to speak without interruption.

That is not what they are saying. With the greatest respect, for the Deputy to make a comment like that, he just does not know what he is talking about.

Yes, we do.

Where are the inspection reports?

On the disability——

Deputy Sargent had his opportunity.

I am looking for facts.

He is looking for further information.

It is the Taoiseach's turn now and he is entitled to be heard, as was Deputy Sargent, with courtesy and silence.

He was asking the questions.

A monitoring and implementation group is in place this year for A Vision for Change. The legislation and standards are in place.

There are no inspections.

A total of €2.4 billion has been invested in the area of intellectual, physical and sensory autism. Practically all that money has been spent on staff. The money is used to employ professionals. It is not a case of billions of euro being thrown around the place. Staff are employed to help the needs of these people on a daily basis. It is right that we invest this money in services for people with intellectual disability. This year 255 residential respite places have been provided for people with autism. A total of 535 day care places have also been provided. The expenditure is being made and a vast amount of money has been invested in this area. I am glad——

It is not there now.

It is. A total of €2.4 billion has been invested this year in——

The services are not there.

The provisions of Planning for the Future was never implemented and neither was A Vision for Change.

Staff are working in the areas of intellectual, physical and sensory autism and mental health.

It never happened.

The State is investing in these areas. As I pointed out several times this morning, we need to do more in this area. We need to increase staffing levels to the 1,800 posts that were set out in the action programme. We also need to spend €150 million dealing with it in the coming years.

I meant to pick up on a point made by Deputy Rabbitte earlier on the figures he gave. He is aware that those figures relate to a number of different areas. The figures for mental health come from the Departments of Health and Children and Education and Science. The percentage figures are far higher than those quoted by the Deputy because they are not all in one subhead.

The figures come from a reply to a parliamentary question.

We are currently spending €850 million on special needs in the education system. It is right that we do that at an early stage. Previously, we did not do that, as we had no money. When I first became Taoiseach there was probably a handful of people in the education system dealing with special needs, now there are thousands. It is right that we have done that. In less than a decade we have moved to a position where 20% of primary teachers, not to mind thousands of special needs assistants in schools and the thousands of other people in the community, are working in this area. The fact is we are investing significant resources, but, as the report outlines, we will have to continue to increase these numbers over the next five years.