Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)

It will take a great deal of training to bring him up to speed because the race has already taken place. I give a limited welcome to the Bill. It is a minimalist response at a late date to a very sensitive issue that has been brought to the attention of the Government again and again. Notwithstanding the compelling nature of the need, the Government struggled with it over and over and failed to produce. If that horse is still around in the stalls, he needs a bucket of oats or something to encourage him to move out.

I do not know why the Government took so long to bring this legislation before us. I do not know if the people with special needs have done something to offend the Government. The legislation has been promised and they have been waiting for five years. I do not know why that should be. It may well be that the Government felt it could not handle this particular situation or that people with disabilities or special needs would be catered for by some other means. People today must contend with new pressures that did not exist in the past. Unlike then, in most cases both parents now have to go out to work and they find it very difficult to cater for a child with special needs. Notwithstanding the fact that the Government claims it has run the economy extremely well and that its coffers are awash with money the most vulnerable group in society is the last one to be recognised.

I listened with interest to a recent radio programme, "Outside the Box", which is presented by people with special needs. The question was asked why it is necessary to make all houses wheelchair friendly. The need for that is obvious. It eliminates the need to change it at a later stage should there be a requirement to do so. One contributor to the programme suggested that the Government was right to do this because of all the money it invests in housing. I almost crashed the car when I heard that. I wondered if I was in the right country. The contributor appeared to have forgotten that the Government cut off investment in housing a long time ago, particularly in regard to the disabled person's grant and special needs. Not only has the new house grant been abolished in recent years but on top of that, any unfortunate person who applied for a disabled person's grant in the last three years has had to wait. Local authorities refused to process any further applications and they banked up received applications as they were unable to meet the need. This is a classic case of special needs that could have been met by Government at a time when so much money is available, yet it refused to do anything about it. The applications still exist and local authorities are doing nothing about them. The Government gets 40% in the form of taxation of the price of every house built in the country, special needs or otherwise. That is just an aside.

Let us look at those who care for people with disabilities. Usually it is parents, be it a one-parent or two-parent household. I referred to the long delay before this limited legislation came to the House. We should remember the Sinnott case. If the Government is so committed to recognising the needs of those with special needs, why did it adopt the attitude it took to the Sinnott case? Why did it go to court to try to defend the indefensible? Surely it would have been preferable to recognise that people with special needs have enough trouble of a physical and financial nature without the "Big Brother" Government denying them certain entitlements. In these circumstances, surely it would have been simple to back off. It would have been the humane thing for Government to do and would have given recognition to people who in many cases have coped on their own for so long.

All Members of the House have dealt with situations that almost made them cry where parents, in some cases elderly people, have sought assistance in their efforts to cater for the special needs of their children. It is difficult for such people to continue to do what they were capable of doing 20 or 30 years earlier. I do not understand why the Government has not recognised the difficulties involved prior to now. Why has it taken so long? I have not even touched on the nitty-gritty of the Bill. I accept what my colleagues said that the legislation deals in a small way with some but not all of the issues.

Let us look at the burden on the carer in a household where there is more than one person with a disability. In some cases a brother or sister may be responsible for the care of a disabled sibling. We must examine whether the Bill addresses the likely requirements of such people in future, legally and unconditionally. The Government is wrong if it considers that it has addressed the issues. In future, improvements will be made in the areas of science and medicine. People are living longer and there is an increasing need to make provision for those with disabilities throughout their adult lives.

The original disability Bill did not get off the starting blocks because the Government considered that its provisions should not be legally enforceable and should be provided at the discretion of Government. People who cater for the needs of their disabled relatives do not have much discretion. They have two options: deal with the matter themselves or deal with the matter themselves. They do not have any other option. They are daily hampered and obstructed by the various agencies that should be there to assist them.

Has any Member recently tried to gain access to health services to assist those with special needs or tried to find where the health service has gone, who is in control or who can provide back-up for people with special needs? I recently dealt with such a case in my constituency. I have made at least 40 phone calls regarding this case but it has been about as effective as if I did not call at all. That is the way we have become as a society. We should not be that way and there are very few excuses for it. It is sad that it is those who need special attention who first feel the lack of it.

The Bill is something of an improvement but it does not go nearly as far as is required. This will not happen until such time as there is a clear recognition on the part of Government of what it must do to meet the rights of those with special needs.

The body that has replaced the health boards, namely, the Health Service Executive is another amorphous mass, a quango which is remote and unaccountable to this House. On telephoning them one sometimes receives a lecture from the officials. They dictate what one should do and imply they know best — the fact that one has done these jobs before they existed does not come into focus. This is what people with disabilities must face. If those of us who are used to dealing with bureaucracy and making representations on behalf of people have difficulty gaining access, the people with special needs will have a great deal more difficulty.

This will continue to be the position until the Minister of State or someone like him decides the time has come to involve all the agencies required to help, namely, the Department of Education and Science, among others; the health agencies and the local authorities. Failure to do so means we are only paying lip service to what this Bill is supposed to be about. We can pass all the legislation we like, but we may find ourselves having to go to court to access the rights as defined in the legislation and I do not see why that should be the case. I know the reason for the failure to progress this Bill in the first instance was along those lines.

The various groups that care for children and adults with special needs have made representations to the Minister and other Deputies in the House. They are in a very good position to identify the flaws in this or any other Bill because they have daily first-hand experience of dealing with the situation. In that context, I compliment the various organisations that care and assist in this area. They have experience of what it is like to wake up in the morning and have a major crisis on their hands, another before lunch and yet another in the evening, all of which need immediate intervention. This means that whatever they had planned the night before must be altered to deal with the situation that presents itself.

Every Deputy deals with a great many cases regarding people with disabilities. That is as it should be. However, I would like to see take place a dramatic change in local authorities and the health services generally in how they cater for these needs. Whether by way of disabled person's grants, back-up carers, home help or support, it behoves all those concerned to respond as a matter of urgency when called upon, not a year later.

One must consider the situation in which a local authority carries out an essential repair on a local authority house — no other body is involved — and, not for the first time, the repair is not carried out effectively. What does one do in such a situation? What does a person with a disability do? How will his needs be met in the context of this legislation being passed? "Not at all" is the answer because the local authority given the responsibility will be able to say,"Sorry, we do not have the money to do this, therefore, we will not do it". That position has pertained up to now.

The sad part is that, even with all the money bursting out of the pockets of the national coffers today, horrendous cases still exist all over the country in which children and adults have not had their needs met because there is an inability to gain access to the money under particular headings with the result that disabled person's grants are backed up. I urge the Minister of State to use his influence in this area because it is an absolute disgrace.

We must also consider the households who must live in private rented accommodation for a considerable period before gaining access to a local authority house if and when one becomes available. Against that, one must consider what it is like to own one's own house which is specially adapted for use by people with special needs. I do not see on the part of the Government a will to make a decision to deal with this issue because of the fear that it might cost money. As long as that fear exists and the situation prevails, whereby people with disabilities do not seem to have the same voting clout as everyone else, that is how it will remain. That is a sad reflection on our society.

I could paper the walls, as I am sure could every other Member of the House, with the representations we have made on behalf of people with heart-rending cases. It is all very well to walk away afterwards declaring that one has made the case the best one could and that it did not work, but what about those who are directly affected? What about the person with the disability or the person caring for him or her and what solace is there for them in all of this? The answer is "very little".

I hope it is fully recognised that certain implications should flow from this Bill. Certain liabilities should fall on the Government and some on State institutions such as responsibility for education, health and housing services. If those liabilities are not recognised and the responsibilities of the Government agencies, through the local authorities, the health boards or the Department of Education and Science, are not taken on board, the legislation will be of no benefit. There is no use in someone stating that they tried. The Government has been trying for a long time now. It has examined the legislation and pawed around it with for the past four or five years and has only at this late stage made a realistic attempt at passing it. Only time will tell what was intended when the legislation was drafted in the first place because the proof of the pudding will be in the taste, by which I mean the Bill's operation. I hope it is a vast improvement on what exists.

See this speech in context