Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)

I pointed out earlier that this second attempt at a Disability Bill has not been followed through in terms of the consultation the Government stated it would deliver. Proof of this is the facilitation by the National Disability Authority of an organisation known as the Disability Legislation Consultative Group, the membership of which is comprised of people directly involved in the disability sector. This group, in its report on the Bill before the House, has indicated that there are ten fundamental flaws with the legislation. It is not talking about minor modifications or areas that are subject to amendment, but fundamental flaws. The series of flaws may be put into two categories which are at the heart of how public services are delivered and can be resourced by people with disabilities and their families. There are the specialist service areas, affecting how the disability of the individual may be treated on a daily basis. Then there is the wider area which involves ensuring that people with disabilities can fully access every public service that is open to citizens of this State. Under both of these headings the Government has been found wanting. If it is to listen or engage in any exercise of consultation, this Bill should be withdrawn and put together in a manner that not only the Opposition, but those in the disability sector can accept is proper legislation. Unfortunately, that is not likely to happen because the Government, since the inception of any legislation in the disability area, has opted for a divide-and-rule approach. Rather than embrace all-encompassing legislation such as in the Swedish model or the Americans with the Disabilities Act, it has chosen to divide the disabilities legislation into different components.

We have had the Education for Persons with Disabilities Act 2004, as approved by the House, for which the Minister for Education and Science will be directly responsible. While it makes some advances in that area, it does not tackle the basic concept that education should be about enhancing the individual rather than making a person into some type of economic act. That is at the heart of the Government's philosophy with regard to education. People with disabilities in particular fall into that category.

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