I remind Deputy Finian McGrath that the relevant Standing Order allows for a brief question on one topic. I ask him to confine his supplementary questions to a single topic.

I would like to give the Taoiseach some facts on the disability issue. Is he aware that St. Michael's House disability services have been told to accept a cut of 5.5%, increasing to 7%? Services for the blind have been told to take a cut of 5.5%. As a result, St. Joseph's Centre for the Visually Impaired on Grace Park Road on the north side of Dublin will lose €350,000. Jobs will be lost even though the staff of the centre took a voluntary 10% pay cut last year. The Disability Federation of Ireland has been contacted by its members who have been told to take a cut of 4.7%. This is the real front line world for the families of children and adults with disabilities. I was told by people from one of the services yesterday that they had not seen the like of such cuts for more than 30 years. They want to know what the hell is going on here.

Does the Taoiseach realise that if residential places and services for adults with intellectual disabilities are closed down, in cases where parents die or there is a family crisis, in addition to the consequent humiliation, sadness, grief and trauma involved, the service provider will be forced to outsource to a private service which will cost taxpayers more money? From a humane perspective this is madness but even the economics are crazy.

In regard to mental health, does the Taoiseach find it acceptable in this day and age that five mentally ill women should be locked up over Christmas in St. Brendan's centre in Grangegorman because of lack of funding? I ask the Taoiseach to use the so-called €35 million promised in the budget so that these women can be respected and there be a compatible solution.

That is a subject matter for a Topical Issue debate, to be discussed later.

I do not have the information Deputy McGrath has in regard to the person who spoke to him about a situation applying at Christmas. That time has not yet arrived but if the Deputy wishes to supply details to the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, I am sure she will be prepared to look at the situation.

I take the Deputy's point about having to revert to private services. One of the great problems experienced by many families in both urban and rural Ireland is getting people to call to houses or to stay overnight to provide assistance and support where necessary. As Deputy McGrath is aware, there is a whole range of such cases. Yesterday I met a group from Roscommon who provide a not-for-profit service which costs approximately €15 per hour. This complements the HSE home help service although most private agencies charge a minimum of €20 per hour for similar services. The group already has some 200 people involved who, in many cases, will stay overnight in a household where that is necessary and appropriate. They are all vetted and their PRSI is paid. The savings to the Department of Health would be considerable if that model were to be adopted on a much broader scale.

They do not have an accident and emergency department.

Regarding the dearer private services which the Deputy mentioned, I have only just been made aware of the capacity of this model to provide a first-class, additional or complementary service on a non-profit basis, at a big saving to the taxpayer. I will bring this to the attention of the Minister of Health for his consideration. If the model were to be applied and if it worked credibly and effectively in people's interest, it would be preferable to paying huge moneys to other organisation which charge far more.

There will be a considerable crisis over the Christmas period.