Go raibh maith agat a Cheann Comhairle agus cuirim fáilte ar ais romhat agus roimh an Taoiseach. Tá súil agam go raibh sos breá agaibh agus go bhfuil sibh réidh go mór leis an obair atá romhainn. Aontaím leis an méid a dúirt an Taoiseach faoi Jimmy Magee. Ba mhaith liom mo chomhbhrón a dhéanamh lena theaghlach. Mar a deireann an seanfhocal, ní bheidh a leithéid arís ann. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

The Government's failure in the health sector is especially evident in the unacceptable way citizens with intellectual disabilities and their families are treated. There is a scandalous lack of services for families with children with disabilities. There is an absence of scheduled respite care services, especially for adults with intellectual disabilities and complex needs, including autism. These families believe they have been abandoned by the State. They are living in a perpetual crisis, under continuous stress, with no break because they cannot avail of proper respite services. As I am sure the Taoiseach knows, it gets worse as parents get older, get sick or their loved ones develop more challenging behaviour. Last night on RTÉ's "Prime Time" programmme we heard the story of Adrienne Murphy and her son Caoimh, a 14-year-old boy with autism. His mother was forced to make a desperate public plea to the HSE to provide residential care because she simply could no longer cope. He is in a hospital bed used to treat burn victims, not in a facility dedicated to meeting his particular needs.

Following last night's programme the Taoiseach may deal with Caoimh's case, but what about the others? In my constituency of Louth and Meath East I am contacted regularly by families who are in similar situations. Sam is an 18-year-old with severe autism, challenging behaviour and complex needs, which often result in violent episodes. His mother is battling to access a respite care service. Sam recently turned 18 years and is no longer eligible to avail of respite care services for children. As such, he is now without access to any respite care service. His family are exhausted and distressed and constantly worrying about what might happen if there is a family crisis or illness and they cannot care for him. His mother has met the Minister for Health, Deputy Simon Harris. She has built a campaign but believes her son's needs remain invisible to the Government.

Adam is a 42-year-old who is non-verbal and has high-support needs. His parents are elderly and at their wit's end. They have cared for him for all of his life with very little support from the State. This is another family who cannot secure a residential placement because no funding has been found. There is no real, fit for purpose, way to provide proper services for these citizens. The system is chaotic and disorganised and it is left to the endeavours and ability of individual families.

Budget 2018 provides an opportunity for the Government to make real differences to these families. What measures will Government introduce to ensure citizens, such as Caoimh, Sam and Adam, receive the dedicated services they so urgently need?

The Deputy will appreciate that I am unable to comment on individual cases on which I do not have the details and that even if I do have the details of individual cases it is not possible for me to breach client or patient confidentiality without the permission of the client or patient to do so. That said, in regard to the case of Caoimh, the Minister for Health, Deputy Simon Harris, and the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, are very much aware of it and met this morning with officials from the HSE and the Department for an update on the discussions on residential placements. The HSE has been working on this case for some time and I understand that there will be further contact today with the young man's mother. We are informed that this is not a funding issue and that a residential placement will be funded once the application has been accepted. The HSE has been providing ongoing care to the family thus far in terms of home supports.

In regard to support for people with disabilities in general, it is important to acknowledge the work that is being done by the Minister for Health, Deputy Simon Harris, and the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath. There was a €90 million increase in funding for services for people with disabilities this year and an increase in the disability allowance for the first time in eight years. Children with severe disabilities, those in receipt of the domiciliary care allowance, for the first time now receive a medical card by right regardless of their parents' income, which acknowledges the enormous cost of health care for many parents with children with severe disabilities. Approximately 10,000 children who previously did not have a medical card now receive one by right and a further 40,000 no longer face reviews.

Decongregation is very much under way. This is happening in my own constituency and, I am sure, in Deputy Adams's constituency. Old institutions, where people with disabilities were kept in Florence Nightingale-style wards, are being closed and those people are being moved into community houses, which is much better accommodation than they had previously. Dedicated funding has been put in place for emergency placements, which is of crucial importance. An issue that had been a big problem in previous years, namely placements for school-leavers, has been improved dramatically. It is important to acknowledge that progress, which is very real and is being experienced by hundreds of people and their families every year.

There is, of course, always more work to be done and we acknowledge that. This week, for example, the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Deputy Regina Doherty, and the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, announced €10 million in funding for pre-activation supports for people with disabilities who might be able to move into employment. As this is an issue Deputy Adams has raised in this House many times, I hope he will take the opportunity to welcome that.

We acknowledge that there are two areas that will require additional investment in the years to come: first, respite, because respite provides a life line for families, giving them the break that they need while their loved one spends a period in respite and, second, the issue of people with disabilities who are living with parents who are now in their sixties and seventies and getting on in years and are understandably concerned about what will happen to their son or daughter with a disability who is still living with them when they pass on or they become unable to look after him or her. They are two areas that will require additional investment in the years ahead. However, it is important to acknowledge those many things done in this year alone to improve the lives of people with disabilities and, of course, their families.

With respect, Taoiseach, it is not good enough. It comes down to what one believes in. One either believes that citizens have rights or one does not. A person with a disability has rights irrespective of the disability. Society must be shaped to meet those needs. This cannot be left to individual Ministers regardless of how well-intentioned they may be.

The Taoiseach spoke earlier about a republic of opportunity. What about a republic of equals? What about the pulse of our people, which is about access to decent public services, the right to a home, the right to a health service and, particularly the right to proper services to citizens with disabilities? The Taoiseach is a doctor and he is bound to know the stress caused to the families concerned. I was greatly moved by an elderly woman I met recently, whose son, who she has cared for all his life, is approaching 50 years of age. Every night, he walks up and down the stairs continuously. She cannot get a break.

Surely that should be a great priority for the Government, that they have a place in the Taoiseach's republic of opportunity. I want these issues to be dealt with and only use those cases as examples. Do these citizens have a right to equality? Can we also have an "Equality Yes" campaign for them? The Taoiseach has said what he and his Ministers have done. Will he advise us of the measures that will be brought forward in the forthcoming budget to provide these citizens with the care that they require?

We all believe in equal rights for people with disabilities. I will give the Deputy an example of what the Government has done just in the year gone by to improve the rights of and the support available to people with disabilities. We all believe in supporting the families concerned, whether it be through the provision of medical cards, increases in welfare payments, employment opportunities or services. We all believe in these measures and maximising the opportunities for people with disabilities. The Deputy's party has been in and out of government in Northern Ireland for most of the past 20 years, but let us consider the payments made to people with disabilities there.

Does that excuse the Taoiseach's conduct?

Let us consider the service deficits in Northern Ireland in terms of the cutbacks social care trusts are making in Northern Ireland. I do not accuse the Deputy of being uncaring or heartless because of the challenges faced in Northern Ireland, nor do I accuse him of abdicating his responsibility to look after people in Belfast or Derry.

I am not the Taoiseach.

That is a relief.

I have talked about the real progress made already and commit to making further progress in the years ahead.