Donegal Deputy Pearse Doherty says that “families need answers”, as a controversy regarding Government disability funding continues.
Doherty raised the issue in the Dáil earlier this week, regarding €8 million of funding that had been announced for disability services and disabled children nationwide just days before the local elections in June of last year.
A total of €3.4 million of that funding had been earmarked for essential services in County Donegal – but as of yet not a single euro of the promised funds have been given to the organisations.
There have now been further developments in the matter – with the HSE saying that it had received no approval or funding to proceed with the planned investment.
New Minister for Disabilities, Hildegarde Naughton, stated that the funding was supposed to be sourced from “one-off savings” within the HSE – however these savings were never made, and no additional funds were offered by Government to make up for that shortfall.
The family of a young boy from Killygordon, whose case was cited in the announcement of the funds by former Disabilities Minister Anne Rabbitte, have said that they feel he was used as a “prop” according to Deputy Pearse Doherty.
“For a year and a half, hundreds of families across the state have been treated shamefully by this government,” Deputy Doherty said in a media statement today.
“They were promised that their children would be able to access therapies through a new emergency disability scheme. This was needed because the HSE has not been able to provide the services due to a lack of staff in the CDNT network. This situation was especially acute in Donegal.”
“After months of submitting questions, I raised the case of Denise and her son Jack who were one of the families betrayed by this government and who were used in a ‘photo op’ by the minister days before the Local Government.”
“I disclosed the information I had discovered, which showed that the funding for this scheme was never there. The government during the week in a series of misleading statements tried to say it was done in ‘good faith’, that it was to come from ‘one-off savings’.”
“This morning we found out in a media report that the HSE, at no point, had ever received approval or funding to proceed with this grant scheme in the first place.”
Regarding the latest developments in the matter, Deputy Doherty says that “…the more information that (has come) to light the greater the scandal and betrayal to the families.”
“Their children have been left waiting more than a year with no HSE-provided therapies and they know the consequences of this for their children.”
“The money needs to be immediately provided to the 52 organisations which have been waiting on the funding to provide essential therapies to children.”
“There also has to be accountability, and the families need answers as to why a Minister announced funding days prior to an election when the HSE had not gotten approval or funding for the grant.”
