Mr. James Cawley:

I thank Senator McGreehan for the questions. Independent Living Movement Ireland has carried out research and produced a paper with the centre for disability law and policy at the National University of Ireland, Galway, which we launched in the audiovisual room at Leinster House. In examining other jurisdictions, we considered four options, one of which was identified as the standard or approach we should take, that is, stand-alone legislation.

As for where this has been done well, Sweden is seen as a gold standard for personal assistance services and it remains the only European country that legally confers a right to a personal assistance service. Other jurisdictions, such as the UK, Denmark, France and Germany, have legislation, but our research focused on stand-alone legislation because that is the point at which PAS could be given that ring-fenced funding. Moreover, legislation would protect the investment.

As far back as 1996, we identified that ten hours a week would suffice for a person's care needs but would not allow us to participate in all pieces of the jigsaw, such as engaging in employment, social life and so on. In Sweden, for example, at a local level anything up to 20 hours is funded to the person but anything over that goes from a centralised approach.

There is research and we have the report, which I would be happy to circulate to any member or the committee as a whole.