Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for her comments and good wishes. I will take on board what she said regarding point eight - training, support, sensitivities and how people can communicate life-changing events along with breaking through the bureaucracy. This is why I am Batwoman alongside Robin here at the moment. I am trying to break through that bureaucracy for the simple reason that it is not just a health issue. We must engage with all the other Departments. It is not different from what was said by Deputy Tully. This is the start. We are breaking away from it being just a health issue. The issue of people with disabilities is about more than health. It relates to the rights to employment, transport, education and housing. It involves tying all this in. How do we command on that? This is why there is a movement out of health into the new Department and why a junior Minister is going into that Department with sole responsibility for disability with the support of a senior Minister in Cabinet. This is how it will work. My focus for the next number of years is on the points I raised with the Senator. It will involve wrenching it out of the Department of Health, sending it over to the Department of Children, Equality, Integration and Youth and then starting to make progress on employment and housing. When I talk about housing, I mean planning and how we provide it as part of decongregation - embedding within the community and giving comfort to families that plans are there and their loved ones can be set and well-established so that they do not have to be at home as they are growing hold wondering who will cater for them if they were to pass away. That is progress. It involves looking at how disability is viewed. That is the vision. We hope to work well together on this so that it is not just an aspiration but transforms people's lives. It is not just advocacy; far from it. A budget of €100 million is not advocacy.