€8m for children’s therapies materialises after mother criticises department over publicity event
The children’s minister has found €8m in funding for children’s therapies after the Government was accused of using a nine-year-old with cerebral palsy as a “prop” for a photo opportunity.
The multimillion-euro fund for children with special needs was launched in October 2023, but the Dáil heard that the money had yet to materialise.
The mother of Jack Donaghey, who is from Donegal and uses a wheelchair permanently, said she felt “betrayed” after taking part in a publicity event for the support fund just days ahead of an election on the promise that children such as her son would be helped.
A week after the case was raised in the Dáil, the Department of Children has confirmed that it has secured sanction for the €8m grant fund to cover the costs in full.
A spokesman for children’s minister Norma Foley said: “There is a target date for commencing the projects mid-year and many of them are due to be completed to the end of 2027.
“The HSE will engage with successful applicants around the drawdown of funding and the financial and governance requirements in relation to the delivery of projects.”
Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty, who last week highlighted the funding issue, had told the Dáil: “The parents of children with special needs must battle the State every single day for vital services that their children need.
Meanwhile, the accommodation recognition payment scheme paid to people who take in those fleeing the war in Ukraine is to be extended until the end of March 2026 to align with the extension of the EU Temporary Protection Directive.
However, the monthly payment will be reduced from €800 to €600 under plans being brought to Cabinet on Tuesday by Ms Foley.
Since the start of the scheme, €272m has been paid to 22,900 hosts.
Separately, justice minister Jim O’Callaghan will seek approval of the national implementation plan for the EU migration and asylum pact ahead of submission to the European Commission.
Ireland and other countries are legally required to submit their national implementation plans to demonstrate readiness for the pact, which will ensure a “fair sharing” of asylum from June 2026.
Mr O’Callaghan will also bring the long-awaited review of the operation of the Sexual Offences Act 2017, which introduced two new offences — the payment for sexual activity with a prostitute, and paying for sexual activity with a trafficked person. The terms of reference for the review were published in 2020, but it has been significantly delayed.
Enterprise minister Peter Burke is bringing measures to Cabinet that will let people remain in work until the age of 66 if they wish.
Mr Burke will publish the bill that will give people working in the private sector, whose employment contract states they must retire at 65, the option to stay on until the State pension age of 66. He hopes to get the bill passed through the Oireachtas before the summer recess.
Finally, housing minister James Browne will update Cabinet on the first meeting of the Limerick mayoral and government consultative forum, which will be held on Friday.
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