Minister for Justice Michael McDowell staunchly defended the Government's role in dealing with disability as he was accused of failing to take his departmental responsibilities for equality seriously.
During heated exchanges, he in turn accused the Opposition parties of leaving "the disabled children of Ireland high and dry" when they were in government.
The row erupted when Labour leader Pat Rabbitte said Mr McDowell received a file a year ago about 490 children in the Louth and Meath areas who have spina bifida, cerebral palsy, autism and other disabilities, but have only one full-time occupational therapist, when the HSE recommendation is one therapist for every 15 children.
Mr Rabbitte asked if the Minister had read or replied to the letters and why these children's parents "are left in that limbo land without the services acknowledged by the HSE for their children".
The parents "in acute distress take the trouble to prepare and send a file to the Tanáiste in the belief that he took the equality part of his portfolio seriously and he doesn't even bother to acknowledge it, let alone take any action on it". Mr McDowell said Mr Rabbitte "should turn off the moral outrage - it doesn't suit him".
The correspondence would have gone to the equality section of the department to be considered by Minister of State Frank Fahey "and fed into the process which led to the disability legislation being enacted and disability sectoral plans", he added.
"This year, a sum of €800 million, up 30 per cent on previous funding, is being spent on special needs education. This year we are increasing very substantially the number of occupational therapists in training. As part of the overall expenditure in the health area, the HSE is getting major increased resources to deal with specific cases of the kind the deputy mentioned, such as parents whose children are afflicted with the tragic condition of spina bifida."
Mr McDowell said Ireland had "one of the most advanced laws on disability", and sectoral plans "were published and became the responsibility of individual Ministers with their own sectoral plans in each area".
Mr Rabbitte said the children in the file "were not born when we were in government".
Accusing the Minister of "rhetoric and bombast" he asked what was the point in telling these parents Ireland had advanced laws.
