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

I thank the Deputy for his question. The purpose of the Bill is to move responsibility for disability matters from the Department of Health to the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and, as I called him throughout Second Stage, the Minister with responsibility for equality and to give him autonomy. This transfer means that the Minister of State role will move, as will the relevant functions, which are essentially the interaction with the HSE. The money needs to transfer as well.

We are going from a medical-based model to a more inclusive one of social care. Since the Taoiseach appointed me 16 months ago, this is what has been going on and I have been working with the Ministers, Deputies O'Gorman and Stephen Donnelly. Disability services are best placed within the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. There is more to people's health than just the medical approach. This area sits perfectly within the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.

I welcome how the HSE will report to two Ministers and seek a budget separate from the Department of Health. I also welcome that disability will no longer be the Cinderella in the Department of Health. It will have the largest budget within the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, which will put disability front and centre when negotiating budgets. While the HSE will report to two line Ministers, it will report on its specific responsibilities for disability matters to the Minister with responsibility for equality and make specific requests in that regard. We will not be discussing other elements at all.

Does that answer the Deputy's question? I do not believe that this matter will fall between two stools. Instead, this is a welcome move to put people at the centre. In line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, UNCRPD, this will give a home to a rights-based approach. We will be taking a rights-based approach to disability and not just looking at it through the medical lens.