Michael Finneran (Longford-Roscommon, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this very important legislation and acknowledge the presence of the Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Fahey, who is a very suitable choice to deal with it. When in the Department of Health and Children in a previous Government, he was certainly a hands-on person. At that time, both he and the Minister, Deputy Cowen, received due recognition for their contribution to the disability budget. That has been discussed since. I am extremely pleased that the Minister, Deputy Cowen, has not changed his mind and that, when he got the opportunity to deliver a budget, those with disabilities received the priority they deserved.

Regarding criticism of what has been proposed in the Bill or announced in the budget, I can certainly speak with some authority from my constituency and county, my background in health and my continued involvement in the area, particularly with disability services. In Roscommon we are pleased to have a community-based service. I know that the Department of Health and Children considers that model appropriate for other areas. It works extremely well, and several organisations contribute enormously to current provision. In particular, apart from the Western Health Board, which is the Government arm of the services, we have the Brothers of Charity, who provide a service to Roscommon and other counties of which we are very proud. Next Friday, the Taoiseach will officially open their headquarters and assessment centre in Roscommon town built recently for almost €2 million. We have also the involvement of the Irish Wheelchair Association in the county. It has provided the only wheelchair accessible 39-bed, en suite hotel in the country, with all the necessary back-up facilities. Indeed, that facility is used by the public for functions, parties and even weddings.

In addition, we have one of the few fishing bay developments in the country. It is a 26-bay development that is fully wheelchair accessible by car to the ramp and from the ramp to the river. That development was funded to the tune of £300,000 by none other than the Minister of State, Deputy Frank Fahey, when he was the Minister with responsibility for fisheries. We also have the Roscommon Association for the Mentally Handicapped and the Roscommon Mental Health Association, of which I have been chairperson for the past number of years.

I assure the House that budget 2004, which will provide the moneys to 2005, was welcomed openly and publicly by the associations and organisations in my county. They are very focused on the legislation, which they welcome. They have concerns about some areas but their views generally are very positive as regards the legislation.

It is important when debating disability legislation in this House that we do not talk off the top of our heads, so to speak, but as a result of our own consultation, involvement and hands-on approach as public representatives in terms of what is happening in our own regions. If we do that we are representing in a way that is meaningful and helpful to those who have been neglected for so long rather than holding a grandiose view that may not be appropriate to what is needed in the regions we represent.

I welcome the decision of the Minister, Deputy Cowen, to provide for a multi-annual budget, which is innovative. Allocating the funds available to him is the first important step in terms of this and subsequent Governments looking after our people with disabilities. The level of funding is enormous in comparison to anything that happened in the past. I have examined the figures and know what has been happening for the past 30 years as regards funding for people with a disability. People with disabilities were given lip service over those years and it is only recently that anything positive has been done and that opportunities are being presented to people to allow them live an independent, full life. For many years, people with a disability found themselves confined to institutions and forgotten. That was an inappropriate approach to those people. Indeed, people who were highly intellectual but who suffered some physical disability were dismissed on the basis that they had a mental disability and were incarcerated in institutions.

The psychiatric service was a catch-all response to all the problems of this nation. I am glad that system is no longer in place and that there is an opportunity for children with disabilities to avail of assessment, psychology services and a range of back-up facilities as proposed in the Bill. That will provide them with an opportunity to have their educational, health and personal assistant needs met, which is vitally important to people with disabilities.

I have examined the Bill in detail and talked to many people about it. I am in constant touch with those who are in charge of disability areas in my constituency and throughout my county. They are very positive about the budget and the fact that we have a Disability Bill that will look after the needs and rights of the people for whom they care. Parents and families of people with disabilities have always been concerned and, until now, got very little help or support from anybody. In the past ten years, bar direct intervention by the Minister, Deputy Cowen, when he was Minister for Health, I did not see any Minister for Health take what I consider to be the appropriate action as regards people with disabilities, that is, put in place finance and resources for them.

This Government is committed to ensuring that those with disabilities are able to participate fully in every aspect of Irish life without discrimination. In this legislation it is putting in place a programme of action to support that but unless that programme of action is financed, it will be of no use. The necessary finances are in the budget, not for 2005, 2006 or 2007 but up to 2009, and back-up facilities are provided for also.

We have turned over a new leaf in the area of support for disability. One only has to consider the number of people who have been employed over the recent period. In 1997, there were 100 special resource teachers for children with special needs. There are now 2,300 resource teachers in the primary system. By any measurement, that is an extraordinary development since 1997. The Governments that achieved that are to be complimented, and I compliment the 1997 to 2002 Government and this Government for providing that amount of support in this area, which is very necessary.

Major achievements have taken place in many other areas. We have turned over a new leaf as regards people with disabilities. I am always open to hearing what others have to say, including members of the Opposition and those who differ with the Minister or the Government on a particular matter. One view that should be challenged openly and debated — it appears to be coming directly from the main Opposition party and perhaps from others — is that there should be a system of involvement of the courts in the area of disability. As somebody who has some experience in the service, I assure the House that is not the right road on which to go forward. It would be a retrograde step, it would prove confrontational and it would not be in the best interests of people with disabilities.

I have two criticisms as regards support for people with disabilities or those are associated with them. I have always spoken out on behalf of people with disabilities and will continue to do so. In the context of the overall health budget, acute and other areas of medicine have moved forward at the expense of the psychiatric service. That is wrong. It is inappropriate that only 7% of the health budget is dedicated to the psychiatric service. I accept the service is backed up through disability support. In the past, this was, of course, part of the psychiatric service. I remain of the view that it is important to ensure the level of funding is increased to 10%. This would have a knock-on effect in terms of the cost to the State afterwards.

I am aware — this can be supported by research, statistics and people in the profession with whom I am acquainted — that many social or borderline psychiatric cases are incarcerated in our prisons, which is inappropriate and wrong. If we had a better funded and resourced psychiatric service operating on a community basis, this would not be the case. Currently these cases, many of which are social in nature, are being dealt with under public order legislation. That is the wrong method to use in dealing with problems of this sort. I accept that he could not make the final call in respect of this area but the Minister of State should give consideration to it because changes would be welcomed. One of the ways to encourage such changes would be to create a better balance in the health budget in respect of the psychiatric service.

Another area to which I wish to refer — this also does not come within the ambit of the Minister of State but within that of the Department of Social and Family Affairs — involves the regulation which allows people to draw down only one social welfare payment. This anomaly has an unfair impact on survivors or widows who are looking after handicapped sons or daughters. It is time the regulation was changed to accommodate people on widow's pensions who are caring for sons or daughters with disabilities and who are prevented from drawing down carer's allowance or similar payments which could supplement their incomes. If these people were not obliged to care for their sons or daughters, they could be in employment and earning another income. There are many people who fall into that category, as evidenced by reports from the Joint Committee on Social and Family Affairs.

I am aware that when a new scheme is introduced or an existing one extended, there can be a knock-on effect and the floodgates can open. The latter can prove a grave imposition on the finances of the country. When we dealt with the pre-1953 issue, the early estimates were that it would cost £100 million. However, as everyone is aware, the costs went through the roof. I feel strongly about the area to which I refer, however, and consideration should be given to it at some stage. I accept that it falls outside the terms of the Bill but when we discuss disability we must not forget that the family members of people with disabilities often care for them.

I compliment the Minister of State, Deputy Fahey, and the Government on the extensive Bill that has been presented to the House. It contains a huge amount of detail and presents an opportunity for us to move forward and enter a new era in the care of people with disabilities in terms of giving them the equal status, opportunities and independence they need. In the past, people with disabilities were treated as second class citizens. As already stated, many of them were subjected to the catch-all solution of being placed in psychiatric institutions. That was completely inappropriate. Institutional care should be a last resort in the area of disability. Indeed, it should be a last resort in any situation. Such care is not appropriate except in cases where it is absolutely necessary.

It is sometimes an easy option and one reads about court cases etc., where, when something bad is heard, people come to believe that a particular individual should be locked up and the key thrown away. I have never agreed with that kind of thinking. By and large, there is some good in everybody. In many cases, it may not be a person's fault that they got into the situation in which they find themselves. It is usually as a result of the way they were treated as children or adults.

In terms of the debate on the Bill and the broader debate on its implementation and the partners that will be involved in this regard, we should be open and should not be restricted or closeted in our thinking. We should continue to listen to what people have to say and reflect matters if problems arise. As far as I am concerned, the Bill and the recent budget are the two most important steps taken during my lifetime as regards support for people with disabilities.

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