Review to decide disability priority

THE GOVERNMENT will know the “scale of the priority” it can give to those with an intellectual disability and children with special needs on completion of its consideration of the review of public spending, Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said.

He told Finian McGrath (Ind) the Government had yesterday approved the publication of the report into special needs assistants (SNAs). Mr Kenny said the Government would focus on special needs and intellectual disability “as a priority” and when the “analysis of the comprehensive spending review is completed we will know the truth of the scale of the priority that can be accorded to any of these sectors”.

Mr McGrath asked Mr Kenny to give a commitment not to cut services for children and adults with a disability. He said there was a “major problem with 3,845 people with an intellectual disability on waiting lists for residential day care and respite places”.

He said, "2,158 residential places, 208 day care places and 1,479 respite places are needed to end the waiting lists over the next four years." There were "major problems facing many families of children and adults" shown on RTÉ's Prime Time Investigateswhich highlighted "the needs of the most vulnerable sections of society". Many families questioned whether the Government was taking the issue seriously because "not one" Minister could be found to appear on the Frontlineprogramme on Monday night to discuss the issue, he said. "Many parents were offended by that."

Mr Kenny said his understanding was the “Minister was not consulted about the preparation of the programme” and was “asked to appear in respect of a programme he had not seen”.

Mr McGrath said that “one class of 28 six-year-old boys, with two children with special needs and others with severe behavioural problems, has had its SNA hours reduced to three days per week from 9am to 11am”.

Mr Kenny said “some of the shocking revelations that were made in the nine cases outlined last night speak for themselves. That is precisely why we have to review the entire structure of the way services are delivered and money is spent.” He said, “I would like to think that we could reverse all of these things overnight, but we cannot do that.”

When Ministers’ responded to the spending analysis, they would “determine what is in the best interests of those who should be given a clear priority here”.