Ms Anne Winslow:

I will take Senator Colm Burke's questions first and then come back to Deputy Margaret Murphy O'Mahony's.

A connection is needed between housing and the supports people require and which are currently being provided by the Department of Health. As Ms O'Connor said, the fair deal scheme has locked in resources in a specific way and they are not being freed for people who prefer to stay in their community. It is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, there are not sufficient resources and money in the community for good assisted living and personal assistant supports to put appropriate packages together, while, on the other, the only to way have an inappropriate solution is to put people in a nursing home. Flexibility is needed somewhere, as well as a tying up of what is going on. It is a serious issue for many people who are affected.

I am delighted that the Senator has improved the budget for the payment of housing adaptation grants in Cork. The budget has been cut and there have been great difficulties throughout the local authorities in this regard. It is a no brainer that if something suitable is done in somebody's house to make it more appropriate to their needs, he or she can stay at home. That matter needs to be examined as one that requires additional resources.

Deputy Margaret Murphy O'Mahony asked how we could help her and how we could help each other. That would be a good way forward. It is important to have the UN convention ratified, but it is even more important to make Departments accountable under the implementation plan for the national disability strategy. It will mean making constant requirements of the various Departments and Ministers concerned and their special advisers and officials, which will mean breaking it down into manageable pieces and addressing what we are looking for in each area. Some work has been done on that issue in the strategy, albeit not enough, but there are measurable outcomes. It is then about having the will to pull it all together. As Mr. Lee said, we want it to move from the highest political level to responsibility being taken by the committee and, in particular, the Minister of State with responsibility for people with disabilities. It is about interconnectedness. We will do anything we can to help, including providing information, data, statistics and evidence of good practice. It is important that we work with the committee and the Deputy in that regard. I make that offer on behalf of the DFI. It will also be true of the other umbrella bodies. We need a joined-up approach, even among ourselves, to get this issue onto the table. I appreciate the Deputy's comments.