Mr. Colm ? Conaill:

I will take the Senator's first couple of questions, my colleague, Mr. Brunell, will take the following couple, and there may be some for our education colleagues then.

The Senator asked a really good question. Post transfer, what differences will we see? What does it really mean to have the convention and a rights-based approach? We talked earlier about moving from the medical model to a more human rights-based approach. What it means, in reality, is a few things. The rationale for the transfer of function is a very strong one, in my opinion. The main rationale is that it will get greater priority, greater focus and greater attention.

As a Department, since 1 March - before then, in fact, but this has accelerated particularly since then - we have been doing two things in this regard. The first is to have clarity as to what our strategic priorities are and what we are really going after. The second is that we will continue to build our capability. We have a new division of disability and youth, as it is, and the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, has met and the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, will meet in the near future with HSE counterparts to ask what the mirroring difference we will see on the HSE's part is. We are building a division to address long-standing, urgent and critical issues with disability services and supports and the disability equality agenda more broadly. How will the HSE step up and see more decisive leadership, delivery and capability on the disability agenda? What does that look like? There will be important discussions. The Senator mentioned restructuring and the HSE part of this. She will be aware of the regional health areas and the restructuring to come but, even at a national level, what does a changed and enhanced focus on disability issues look like in the context of the HSE's leadership? Our Secretary General, the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, and I have discussed that with the new HSE CEO and he is giving the matter active consideration.

More broadly, though, and to step back, we see a more human rights-based approach to disability services and supports across the country for people with disabilities as two things. We have a disability capacity review, which has painted a very clear picture of very large-scale unmet need, which needs to be addressed with investment. It is not just a question of money; we have talked this morning about issues with staffing and recruitment, and other reforms are needed. It is not as simple as money, but we will need to see increased investment over the coming years, with a multi-annual programme of increased investment through the action plan. When we talk about strategic priorities, that is why the action plan is a very high strategic priority for us to get agreement on and to start delivering on.

The second way relates to how we approach services and supports. This is not something that just started on 1 March; it has been under way for several years. We are accelerating the way in which services are delivered in an inclusive, person-centred, human rights-based approach and increasing the investment in personal assistance, as Deputy Tully raised earlier, being a really important way of enhancing the independence of people with disabilities in the context of decongregation into community settings and residential care in the community, a more personalised, individualised approach to day services, and a focus not just on the organisation but also on the individual and the service he or she receives. We are not pretending this is just starting. It is a matter of accelerating this further and increasing the overall investment. Those are probably the two main ways in which we are talking about a rights-based approach.

Mr. Brunell might address some of the other matters, including the optional protocol.