Children with physical and sensory disabilities need all the supports that are humanly possible to be made available to them so they can have as independent a life as possible. Volumes of research show that children who receive intervention as early as possible benefit enormously from it.

The Irish Wheelchair Association administers a personal assistant scheme using a person-centred approach. It has pioneered the way the service is meant to be delivered. It connects with each individual and has a direct input into his or her needs and assessments.

There is no need for me to outline the considerable benefits that have accrued for children with intellectual, sensory or physical disabilities because of their having personal assistants. Unfortunately, however, there are many children who are not receiving this vital support. I am sure the Tánaiste and every other Deputy has had to fight for services, such as personal assistants, for children with special needs in preschools, national schools and secondary schools.

The maximum number of hours allowed through the Irish Wheelchair Association is four to six hours. This is absolutely inadequate. The programme for Government refers at length to commitments to improving the lives of people with disabilities, and it goes through all that should be done to help them. The HSE’s plan for 2016 alone contains a target of 1.3 million hours. This compares with 1.4 million actual hours in 2015. Therefore, before we start at all, there has been a reduction in the service by 100,000 personal assistant hours, despite the constant growth in the number of children who need personal assistants. It is grossly hypocritical to include a commitment in the programme for Government to having better supports and access for those with disabilities, particularly children, if the number of hours referred to in the 2016 plan is lower than the number granted in 2015. The Government has given various commitments in this regard. I challenge it to consider very seriously the provision of personal assistants, particularly through the Irish Wheelchair Association. I have encountered many cases throughout my constituency of families seeking supports, as has every other Deputy.

It is hypocritical to claim the Government is seeking to improve the lives of people with disabilities through better access to supports and increased independence when the number of personal assistance hours has been cut this year. Will the Tánaiste confirm that these cuts will be reversed and the allocation of personal assistance hours will be dramatically increased in 2017?

Children starting preschool education and primary school are being allocated four or six hours of personal assistance. If this figure were increased to eight or nine hours, it would give them a major boost as they face the challenges of the future. I ask the Tánaiste to acknowledge that services have been cut this year, confirm that they will be reversed and recognise that the Irish Wheelchair Association must be shown greater flexibility in providing additional hours to children who require them at preschool and primary level.

The Deputy raises a very important topic. I agree with him that early intervention services are critical, particularly for children with special needs who require either intellectual or physical supports. The programme for Government commits to supporting children in these circumstances. For the first time, children with a disability who are attending preschool education will receive supports under the early childhood care and education, ECCE, programme. This major new initiative to ensure children have access to services will mean, for example, that special needs assistants will be made available in preschool settings. The Government recently agreed to provide an additional 860 special needs assistants. This will be of considerable help to the children the Deputy describes both in preschool and primary education.

An additional €500 million has been allocated to the health service, including €31 million secured by the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, to support and improve disability services. This funding will be used to deal precisely with the group of children the Deputy describes, as well as adults who are in need of support, particularly those making the transition from school to day care centres. This money will ensure services are available to this group. The Government is, therefore, committed to early intervention and providing supports for the children the Deputy describes. Under the previous Government, the then Minister for Health, Deputy Leo Varadkar, also announced extra funding for speech and occupational therapy.

The Deputy indicated that the Irish Wheelchair Association has some concerns regarding personal assistants. I will convey the points he raises to the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, and ask him to respond directly to the Deputy. The general context is one of increased funding for health services, with a special focus on extra funding for disability services, and increases in early years supports for children with special needs, whether intellectual or physical. The Government is committed to this in the programme for Government. I will ask the Minister to respond to the Deputy directly on the personal assistance scheme. I expect that supports will be made available to children who need this kind of support given the commitments made in the programme for Government and the focus and priority the Government has given to increasing funding for the health sector.

As I stated earlier in the week, demand for health services is increasing and attendances are higher. Thankfully, the needs of many of the children in question are being identified at earlier in life. We must provide supports to children with special needs at an earlier time in life. For this reason, I welcome what the Government is doing in ensuring that children with disabilities have access to supports in preschool and primary education.

The parents of children with physical or intellectual disabilities must continuously fight the system for services for their children. The Tánaiste stated that more special needs assistants will be provided.

I am sorry to say that is not what is happening on the ground. The Tánaiste referred to speech and language and occupational therapy. A whole series of questions could be brought in these areas. There could be hours of debate on these matters and every Deputy could bring their own experience to bear. The waiting list for occupational therapy, speech therapy and all of that produces extraordinarily difficulties. There are huge waiting lists. Parents come to me with stories of waiting lists of a year or a year and a half but the services are needed now.

The Tánaiste made a point about special needs assistants. Will she tease out the point? We have all signed up to UN conventions and so on and the theory is correct, but the reality is that there is extraordinary concern among people and there is a lack of supports for children with either physical or intellectual disabilities. This applies whether they are trying to access the services in primary school, preschool or in second-level education.

Parents of children with special needs, whether intellectual or physical, should not have to fight the system in the way Deputy Moynihan describes. Our intention is to improve the services. Let me give an example of what is happening. Under the Health Service Executive 2016 national service plan, the priority is to protect the level of services provided in 2015 and to provide 1.3 million hours of personal assistance services as well as 2.6 million hours of home support to over 2,000 adults with a disability. These are precise figures on the improvement in personal assistance hours.

Historically, parents of children with a disability in this country have had to fight too hard for services. We know that. In an improving economic situation we are now in a position where more services are being provided. That is the reality. There are 850 extra SNAs. Parents who need special needs assistants in schools for their children will see the benefit of this in the coming school term. Extra money has been allocated with over €1 billion in our budget for special needs assistants.