Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

Last night up to 700 people with disabilities, their families, their carers and their advocates attended at the RDS to express their anger and frustration at what they perceive to be shortcomings in the Disability Bill 2004. In addition to the anger and frustration they expressed, there was a distinct feeling of having been through this previously. They thought, when the 2001 Bill was withdrawn and the Disability Legislation Consultation Group was set up, that the Government was involved in genuine dialogue with the various groups and the representatives of the disability sector. The legislation produced in September 2004 bears little resemblance to what the members of the group thought they were helping to frame in consultation with the Government.

This Bill has been described as fundamentally flawed by many groups, including the Human Rights Commission. The definition of disability is so restrictive that it almost certainly excludes from its provisions persons with mental illness and those with disability who need episodic as distinct from continuous service. What should have been landmark and progressive legislation is now perceived as regressive and excluding.

In the The Irish Times this morning, the Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Fahey, stated he would be happy to respond in writing to submissions. Given that the Disability Legislation Consultation Group sent recommendations to the Department last October, why has it taken the Department until now to give an answer? Will the Taoiseach see to it that the correspondence is comprehensively and fully dealt with?

The Second Stage speeches, particularly of Government representatives, were largely self-congratulatory in tone. The Taoiseach did a good day's work yesterday in dealing with the issue of the release of the killers of Detective Garda McCabe. We discussed at some length in this House the breach of trust by the republican movement. What has dragged on here for seven years in terms of the disability sector is a national breach of trust by the Government and the Taoiseach has a responsibility and the authority to ensure that it is sorted out in the interests of that sector.

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