Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy has said, putting the needs of, and giving voice to, persons with a disability has to be absolutely at the core of what we achieve in this committee. When the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, and I were initially appointed, we met representatives of disabled persons organisations in late July and August. The Disability Federation of Ireland really flagged with us that its members wanted to see this committee formed because they were aware there was an existing commitment to have a specific disability committee formed and that this had not been acted upon. We wrote jointly to the Ceann Comhairle before the Dáil resumed. It was in train anyway but it was important. We saw that it is recognised by the disabled persons organisations that this committee will have a really important function both in holding to account and in ensuring Government is working together.

The Deputy also made the point that the job of advancing the rights and needs of persons with disability does not just fall to me and the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte; it falls to every Department. One of my jobs at Cabinet is to remind everyone of that as much as possible. Even in the context of the presence of the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, at the Department of Education, there is a much more holistic approach to it being taken by this Government. The creation of this Department is an important step in that for the first time. In the previous Oireachtas, the Minister of State, former Deputy Finian McGrath, did a really good job as the junior minister, but I believe there was an understanding that rather than having a junior minister across a number of Departments maybe the best way to work was to bring responsibility for policy and service provision together in one Department, which is what we are seeking to achieve.

The Deputy listed a few specific points such as, for example, the end of congregated living. That will be a role of this Department. The remit is still with the Department of Health at present because service provision has not moved over yet but the entire health responsibility will be moving over in the next months and will rest with this Department.

The issue was raised about the difficulty in accessing carer's allowance, which is one of those areas I need to raise with my colleague, the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys. The Deputy might come back to me with some specific examples and I could speak to the Minister about that area.

Deputy Tully raised a number of points, all of which tie back to the idea of giving persons with disabilities the greatest independence possible, whether it is people in rural Ireland who have a disability and for whom public transport is not an option or if it is a personal assistance service. We engage with a number of organisations in that regard, including Independent Living Movement Ireland, and they have pushed for that. We have met a number of people whose lives are transformed by the provision of the personal assistance service. We are conscious of that.

It is a big change in responsibility and it is taking a little while to move services from the Department of Health to our new Department. We believe in taking the time to get it right. There will be a new relationship between my Department and the HSE. There will have to be an accountability relationship and that will involve some changes to the health Acts and some changes to primary legislation. A very significant disability services budget of €2 billion will be moving, as the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, has outlined. It is taking a little bit of time but it is worth taking that time to get it right and to get the structures in place. It is our intention to make it work.