John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Bill and I wish it a safe and successful passage through the House. It is a fair attempt to address the many issues affecting people with disabilities and their representative groups over the years, particularly the feeling of being left out. I will concentrate on the issues of funding, employment targets, genetic testing and appeals and assessments. People with disabilities and their families have felt marginalised for years, not only because of inadequate funding but also because of inadequate representation and appeal facilities. Many individuals and groups felt excluded by the decision making process and by the eventual decisions handed down.

I welcome the new open and transparent approach of the appeal system and the new employment targets. For too long we have talked about the need to achieve those targets, but nevertheless nobody felt there was a difficulty when they were not achieved.

The most important aspect of dealing with disability is the issue of adequate funding. In every endeavour, whether Government or private, money talks. Anybody who doubts the Government's commitment to dealing with disability issues can measure its commitment by the level of funding that has been recognised as necessary to address the issues. It is important not just to recognise the funding committed in the most recent Government announcements but to acknowledge that a previous Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Cowen, recognised the need for multiannual funding for people with disabilities and particular groups. It is important to acknowledge he made that commitment and not just see the figure allocated. We must recognise once and for all that a Government operating a capital programme on a year to year basis cannot provide the necessary funding. The multiannual commitment in 2002 underpinned the direct Government commitment to resolving the issues and this has now become the cornerstone of future Government funding. This is a positive step. People must realise that the multiannual programme will continue into the future and will, I hope, increase programme by programme. The Cowen package, as it is now referred to, creates the provision of capital funding of more than €220 million.

Without rehearsing the facts, I can proudly say that a significant level of funding has been committed to the various areas of disability. I recognise that much has been done, but like everybody in the House, I would like to see much more done. As we are going a distance in recognising the rights of people with disabilities, we should go a step further. In this regard I talk about providing funding for people with disabilities through community employment schemes. We should take this opportunity to recognise that while the situation is far better than it was, funding through the CE schemes is not the answer. If we want to totally support people with disabilities, we should recognise that the current system of recruitment of personal assistants through the CE scheme, whereby people are taken on to support people with disabilities for a three-year programme, is not the answer. First, time is used up by way of a training programme. Second, the individuals recruited are often not suitable — I use the word "suitable" advisedly — for the tasks involved. Third, unless people have a specific interest in helping those with disabilities, they are not cut out for the job. In this regard, while we recognise the increased annual and multiannual funding, there is still a part to be played through direct support for people with disabilities. If the Minister invited in some people representing the Disability Federation of Ireland, they would show clearly that the level of increase required would be minimal to the Exchequer. This avenue should be pursued.

I was very pleased to read Part 4 of the Bill, which deals with the issue of genetic testing. I hope we can go even further on this. I heard some people say the Bill is not welcome. Part 4 is a part that has been welcomed. I am not just latching on to this because it has received public support. Part 4 seeks to safeguard access to employment, insurance and mortgages for people who may be affected by certain medical conditions such as cystic fibrosis and Huntington's disease. I welcome this. This part restricts the use of genetic data in general, especially for employment purposes, and outlaws use for insurance purposes. The use of family information for insurance purposes may be restricted by regulation.

I, and other Members I am sure, have come across couples seeking mortgages where cystic fibrosis has been an issue and the couple has been refused a mortgage. Discrimination does not come across more startlingly than in this regard. Without being parochial, this type of discrimination is an area that should be examined. I urge the Minister to look into the matter of young people being barred from mortgages and from getting the necessary start-up in life. I have come across cases where young people under 40 years old were refused mortgage cover in this regard, despite the fact they had the wherewithal to meet the demands of a mortgage. The Minister could sort out the issue by way of regulation. I would welcome that. I welcome the Minister's intention to protect the area regarding genetic testing. He should not increase the powers of the insurance companies nor should they claim that the law overseeing them is too strict. It is far from that.

We have all paid lip service to the provision with regard to public service employment. However, we must all welcome that this is now on a statutory footing. This, coupled with funding, must be the foundation of our commitment to ensuring we have rights based legislation and an appeals mechanism.

I also welcome the inclusion of assessment officers. Sections 7 to 9 deal with the assessment of need. Those of us who are former members of health boards are well aware that the greatest criticism from people with disabilities and the groups representing them has been that they felt marginalised and left out because there was no specific appeals mechanism for them. Although there was an appeal system, it was often the acting officer of a health board — not to take away from him — who had to deal with the issue, without the experience or the necessary responsibility to deal with appeals. I therefore welcome this section.

I accept the comments made by Deputy Stanton and understand that as spokesman for the Opposition he has to highlight what he considers the flaws.

See this speech in context