I thank Sinn Féin for bringing this motion forward. As I do not have much time, I will just touch on some of the requirements in this motion. It looks to me as if people with additional needs are always the people who are suffering in this country and fighting to get basic rights. Special needs assistants are being treated unfairly and families are paying the price. The current system is rigid, cold and completely out of touch with what is happening on the ground. In schools, children who need support are left waiting and SNAs are being pushed to the brink. That cannot continue. The Minister must engage properly with the Save our SNAs campaign and implement a fair and improved circular that works for children, parents and schools. SNAs are doing far more than they were ever originally employed to do. It is long past time their role was recognised through a proper redeployment scheme and a workforce plan designed with SNAs themselves. At the same time, the Government is bringing back exam fees and hiking school transport charges. It is the wrong decision at the wrong time. Bus fees for secondary students are being doubled and they are being hiked by a third for primary students, pushing ordinary families, who are already stretched, to breaking point. Education should not come with barriers like this. It should be fair, accessible and based on basic decency. I wish to raise the pressures facing CoAction in west Cork and other communities and the families who rely on its services. CoAction supports hundreds of adults and children across west Cork, providing residential care, supported living, respite and vital disability services. Demand for these services is growing year on year, yet the organisation is being held back by chronic under-funding and uncertainty. There is a vacant residential bedroom that cannot be used because of a lack of funding to staff it. New residential respite developments are planned in places like Skibbereen, Bantry and Clonakilty but without guaranteed revenue funding, these projects cannot open, even when the buildings are there. Families are crying out for respite. Centres have capacity to do more but staffing, short-term funding and recruitment challenges are limiting what can be delivered. The lack of a multi-annual funding model is creating constant uncertainty for service users, their families and front-line staff. The Government must give providers like CoAction proper, secure funding so existing services can run at full capacity and planned services can open. People with disabilities and their families deserve certainty, not promises that depend on next year’s budget. There is one vital disability service project that deserves urgent Government backing. CoAction west Cork, working in partnership with the Kilbritten Tractor Run and the local community, has put forward a strong, well-planned proposal for a new respite and day service facility in Dunmanway. This project responds to a clear and growing need for autism-focused and intellectual disability services across west Cork. The proposal includes a purpose-built community hub, adult day services, respite centre and supported living apartments, all located within walking distance of Dunmanway town. This is about keeping people in their own communities, supporting independence and ensuring continuity of care as young people transition into adulthood. What makes this project stand out is that the land has been generously donated by local people, John and Mary McCarthy. Funding has already been raised by the community and the service model aligns fully with the national disability policy and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, UNCRPD. What is needed now is certainty from the State. Capital and guaranteed revenue funding must be provided so this project can move from paper to reality. Families have waited long enough. This is the right project in the right place at the right time. It needs to be urgently brought ahead. Deputy Jen Cummins mentioned the Before We Die campaign. I certainly do not need to be educated on it because I know all about it. I spent a number of years on the board of CoAction and I see the need for people to live independently. Parents are now getting to an extremely worrying time in their lives where they are growing elderly and are concerned about where their children will end up. There are no services available, nor is there a solution. People are being told that the disabled person said they are okay, but that is not a decision they can make. We need to be looking at that. I was involved in a community project in Skull where we built 12 houses recently. Two people in CoAction were able to move into these houses, but I had some fight to get them in there. No one understands the situation. This can be a solution in many towns and villages. It needs to be worked on. I would appreciate if the Minister and Minister of State could help us along that line.

Sentiment score: 0.08