I refer to what the Acting Leader and many others have mentioned, the withdrawn mobility allowance and motorised transport grant schemes. An investigation was carried out by the Ombudsman in 2009 and the results were conveyed to the Department in April 2011. That is some time ago and no subsequent action was taken.

There are two issues, the first being the motorised transport grant application. In my county 300 applications for this scheme were refused since 2009, and all of these were under investigation by the HSE. They will remain under investigation but as of yesterday, no person who is unable to walk will be allowed to apply for the grant scheme, which is a disgrace.

Hear, hear.

We can speak in glossy terms but these people cannot make an application. A disabled person who cannot walk and needs a car in rural Ireland will not be able to apply today for that scheme because it is closed.

The withdrawal of the mobility allowance scheme removes €6 per day from the pockets of people who cannot walk. That scheme is under review and will continue for four months for that process. We do not know the specifics of the review. Why has it not been-----

Is the Senator supporting a call for debate?

Absolutely, and I commend Senator MacSharry, our health spokesperson, for seeking the debate. The Minister for Health must attend the House to discuss the matter. We can all participate in glossy politics but in the end we must take a stand on this issue as a Chamber. We should stand up for the 5,000 people affected by this issue and the stroke of a pen, despite the promises made by the Minister for Health and his Minister of State at an Oireachtas committee meeting on 6 February. We can see today that those promises are empty.

With regard to the mobility allowance, it is important to emphasise that this year we will spend €20 billion on social welfare, and we have spent €80 billion in real terms in the area over four years. When something is highlighted as requiring a review, it is important that it is done properly. This is as opposed to what happened a number of years ago, when the nursing homes issue was raised. The immediate response of the Government at the time was to rush through emergency legislation and try to make illegal nursing home charges retrospectively legal. That is not the way we are dealing with the matter.

That was an ex-Fianna Fáil Minister in former Deputy Mary Harney.

We are looking to ensure that fair procedures are put in place for dealing with these allowances.

Senator Feargal Quinn raised a very important issue relevant to how matters are introduced in the House. There seems to be an attitude in the Department of Health that an issue must be parked for three years before it can be touched. This also relates to the review of the mobility allowance. Why does it take Departments so long to respond to an issue when it is raised in a genuine fashion? We seem to keep kicking the can down the road so as not to arrive at decisions. We should examine why, when an issue is introduced in the House, it may be three or four years before we try to deal with it. I ask the Leader to raise the matter with the Minister for Health and have a debate on this issue. When something is raised in a genuine fashion, we must try to move it on within a reasonable period.