The Minister and his Government are failing children with disabilities. It is not just children but adults, too. That is clear. We saw it earlier this year, when people gathered outside the gates of Leinster House to protest the decisions that the Government has taken. It is not just the lack of services and supports. The fact that the Government sat around the Cabinet table and decided to leave people with disabilities €1,400 worse off is shocking. It is an indictment. This motion relates to the cost of disability and Sinn Féin's call is to start to reverse that, to immediately make €500 available to people with disabilities and to bring forward a meaningful cost-of-disability payment that would meet the needs of people with disabilities. The cost of disability is not just measured in euro and cent. It is also measured in the delays and dithering of the Government. When I say that, I am thinking clearly of two young children, and they are two of 150, in my constituency of Donegal, namely, young Aaron Langan from Laghy and young Diarmuid O'Sullivan from the Finn Valley. I had the pleasure of spending Sunday with young Aaron. He has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, DMD. He was here last year, demanding that the Government allow him access to a drug that was approved by the European Commission. It was approved one year ago next Saturday. He was demanding early access. He was walking around when that was happening. Today, he is in a wheelchair. Without access to that drug, people such as Aaron and the 150 others will not have quality of life. I am asking the Minister to deal with the cost of disability with no more delays in terms of euro and access to crucial medication.

Sentiment score: 0.05