Ar dtús, ba mhaith liom a rá, ar mo shon fhéin agus ar son mo pháirtí, Nollaig faoi shéan agus faoi mhaise duit féin, a Cheann Comhairle, do Bhaill an Tí agus do gach éinne atá ag obair anseo. Táimid go léir fíor-bhuíoch dóibh as ucht an méid a dhéanann siad ar ár son. Nollaig faoi shéan duit féin agus don Tánaiste. Maraon liom féin, tá an Tánaiste ag súil leis an Nollaig agus leis an bhfaoiseamh agus an sos beag atá ag teacht

Gan dabht.

After extending season's greetings and hoping the Tánaiste will have an enjoyable, restful and peaceful Christmas, which I am sure he needs, like all of us, I wish to raise a very serious issue relating to people with disabilities. Looking back on 2012, it is fair to say we have witnessed a significant attack on services for people with disabilities, with cuts across the board. There has been much fear and anxiety developing among parents and families of people with special needs and disabilities. It has been a sustained attack, leading to fear and frustration.

For example, 700 school leavers have no guarantees of getting a place for essential services and the issue is still not satisfactorily resolved. There have been cuts to special needs assistants across the country, with a 15% cut to resource teaching hours and a very ruthless review of the domiciliary care allowance, with up to 63% of all applications rejected in the first six months of 2012 and 50% of children with autism refused a domiciliary care allowance. Last year the Government was forced into a review of cuts it had announced to disability payments. We also witnessed the debacle of the Minister for Health, Deputy James Reilly, in August, when he cut €10 million from personal assistants and people had to camp overnight to get the cut reversed.

There was a further slash and burn cut of €1 million in home help hours, which again affected people with disabilities. That was followed in this budget by a callous 20% cut in the respite care grant. On this side of the House we have noticed a terrible tightening of the screw with medical cards, particularly for children with special needs and children with life-challenging conditions. Such people are now being refused medical cards. When one considers the entire year, the picture is one of targeting people with disabilities, with a removal of any sense of guarantee or comfort.

We acknowledge the difficulty of the finances for 2013. There should be, however, a resolve to protect people with special needs and disabilities in our society. I know the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, at the time of the announcement of the Estimates was not in a position to guarantee that there would not be further cutbacks in 2013 for the disability sector. The HSE service plan is due to be published. Will the Tánaiste guarantee there will not be cuts to people with disabilities and special needs? In particular, will he guarantee there will be places in services for those who leave second level schooling in 2013?

Ba mhaith liom aontú leis an Teachta Ó Máirtín agus le gach uile Teachta sa Dáil, agus Nollaig shona a bhronnadh ort féin, a Cheann Comhairle, ar gach Ball den Teach agus ar gach uile dhuine a oibríonn anseo i dTeach Laighean. I join with Deputy Martin in wishing the Ceann Comhairle a happy Christmas.

He needs a rest.

I also wish a happy Christmas to all the party leaders, Members, the staff of the House and those who work in the press and in servicing the work of Leinster House. I also extend greetings to those who work in our political parties and in our offices. We have had a pretty intense time since the Dáil resumed in early September and everybody is agreed that a period of rest and reflection is due to everybody in the House.

There is a degree of fear and worry among people with disabilities and those who care for them or are close to them. It is a responsibility for all of us to ensure this sense of fear and worry is not added to. When we address the issue of the services provided for people with disabilities, we should do so in a reasoned way, and no Member should seek to exploit any issue relating to disabilities. We should work collectively to address those needs.

Deputy Martin raised a number of issues. The total amount budgeted for disability-related services in the Department of Health alone is approximately €1.4 billion. He also referred to medical cards.

Currently, 42% of the population have medical cards in addition to those who hold general practitioner only cards.

On places in education, I understand the 700 persons to whom Deputy Martin referred who left the education system have been accommodated. There has not been any reduction in the basic payments which are made to people with disabilities and those who care for them. I agree it should be a priority for all of us that provision is made for people with disabilities. There is a requirement that the service plan for the Health Service Executive is produced and submitted to the Minister within 21 days of the Estimates being announced. There is then a period of 21 days within which the service plan must be agreed. This process will be worked on over the next number of weeks and I assure Deputy Martin that, as far as the Government is concerned, provision for people with disabilities and those who care for them is a priority.

The key issue in the service plan is whether it will include a cut in resources to service providers. They believe this may be the case and they have been clear that they cannot take any more. The demographic funding that was provided for school leavers was removed in its entirety last year and not all of the school leavers were adequately dealt with. I raised a complex case in the House concerning a young child who is still awaiting adequate and proper provision by the Department of Health and Health Service Executive. Details of the case have been provided to the Ministers concerned and the Taoiseach. The removal of funding is the reason the child in question is not being properly accommodated. I have spoken to HSE officials about this matter and they are at the end of their tether. This is one example of the inadequate manner in which school leavers were dealt with last year.

The programme for Government states the Government will "ensure that the quality of life of people with disabilities will be enhanced and that resources allocated will reach the people who need them". It continues: "We will facilitate people with disabilities in achieving a greater level of participation in employment, training and education". In 2012, the opposite was the case for people with disabilities and special needs across the areas I outlined. The domiciliary care allowance, in particular, has been the subject of a ruthless review. Many parents of children with autism cannot understand the reason they have been refused domiciliary care allowance. Half of them are being refused the allowance, with 63% of overall applications being excluded under the review.

Will the Tánaiste guarantee the service plan will not include a cut to the funding provided to the service providers? Will he guarantee that the 700 children who will leave second level education in September 2013 will all have a place and funding will be provided to the service providers to ensure these children and young people are provided with appropriate placements?

The service plan has not yet been completed. As I indicated, there is a process by which the plan is developed. The first part of this is the preparation and submission to the Minister for Health of a service plan by the Health Service Executive, after which the Minister has a period in which to consider the plan. In advance of seeing the service plan, none of us can speculate about what will be in it.

The Tánaiste could try to influence it.

I agree that the needs of people with disabilities must be adequately provided for. It is the view and priority of the Minister for Health and the Minister of State with responsibility for people with disabilities, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, that this should be done. One of the ways in which this is done is to ensure planning is done. This was not the case in the past but it is now being done. It is possible to plan ahead and anticipate what will be the educational and training needs of a person with disability at the different stages at which they need to access services. This is the approach being taken by the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, who is ensuring a plan is in place and is being worked on ahead, rather than being operated on a year-to-year basis. By doing this, we provide certainty for people with disabilities and their families that their needs will be addressed.

Service providers have their plans and know what lies ahead.