Paul McGrath (Westmeath, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to address the House on the Disability Bill which has been promised for some time. At long last, it has come before the House and Deputies have an opportunity to debate it. However, it is with a sense of disappointment that I address the House because we were promised so much over a long period.

Those with siblings or offspring with disabilities waited a long time in the hope the legislation would give them a sense of security for the future. They wanted legislation to emerge which would give them confidence that their relative or child with a disability would be looked after in the event of their passing. They have been given a disappointing Bill. Why is it disappointing on its second introduction to the House? Were no lessons learned from the earlier Bill?

Before the previous general election, a Minister of State with special responsibility for disability, Deputy Mary Wallace, travelled around the country consulting people with disability and their representative groups and listening to their views in good faith. It was intended that the discussion process would feed into the resulting disability Bill to reflect the concerns, wishes and aspirations of all concerned. The pertinent question, therefore, is whether the former Minister of State did not listen or failed to follow through, or whether her thoughts and ideas were rejected by the Government and its advisers. I have known Deputy Mary Wallace for some time and she is a genuine and committed person. It is my view that the third of the options I outlined is the case and the Government decided not to listen to the views of interest groups or give rights for rights' sake to persons with disabilities. It was for this reason that it introduced a Bill which was rejected out of hand by all concerned.

What happened when the first Bill was withdrawn? The Minister of State became the sacrificial lamb, took the blame and was abandoned by the Government. Let us be clear, the Bill was introduced with the Government's blessing and approval, not off the junior Minister's own bat. Despite this, the Government decided to hang her out to dry.

The Government then started the process all over again. In the run-up to the election and in the subsequent programme for Government, all sorts of promises and commitments were given to people with disabilities. An Agreed Programme for Government states: "We will complete consultations on the Disabilities Bill and will bring the amended Bill through the Oireachtas and include provisions for rights of assessment, appeals, provision and enforcement." Having read this commitment, everyone involved in the area of disability would conclude the amended Bill would provide the answers to all the sector's problems and an assessment of need would be provided for all persons with disability, with a right to appeal assessments that are considered unsatisfactory. In such cases there would be provision and enforcement. I presume "provision" meant the provision of whatever services were recommended and that "enforcement" meant that if such a service was not provided, the people involved could somehow enforce it. However, this Bill does not follow through on that commitment.

There was a fanfare when this initiative was announced. The Taoiseach was present and said all the right things. This followed on from the Special Olympics which captured the hearts and minds of the people. For two weeks, we were enthralled by the focus on sport for people with disabilities and the focus on Ireland. All the communities which hosted delegations from other countries did a fantastic job. We glowed with care for people with disabilities and thought we would get delivery of services. The Taoiseach jumped on the bandwagon to announce the Disabilities Bill, but alas it leaves a lot to be desired.

If one looks at the groups of people caring for those with disabilities, such as one's local wheelchair association, to find out what is happening, one finds they are fundraising frantically. They are trying to gather a few shillings and probably get a bus to look after wheelchair-bound people in their area. Many are volunteers and do a fantastic job in a voluntary capacity. I pay tribute to them and to others who work with people with disabilities in the various organisations.

The Carers Association estimates there are 150,000 carers in the country. Approximately 25,000 carers get some recognition by way of a carer's allowance, leaving approximately 125,000 who do not. In the budget, the Minister announced that he would introduce a respite grant for all carers. If the Carers Association's figures are accurate, in the region of 125,000 people should qualify for the respite grant at €1,000 per person. That would amount to €125 million, which is a large sum. The Minister, however, provided a sum of money in the budget that falls dramatically short of that figure. What will happen? Will the Minister set up a mechanism whereby some carers will be included for the respite grant and others will not? Is that his intention? Will he tell the people who save the State an estimated €1.6 billion a year that they do not count, that he does not recognise them and that they are not useful in society? Will he turn his back on them? Will that continue?

I am sure that the Leas Cheann-Comhairle has come across the centres for independent living that have been established in many areas. In Westmeath, one operates in Kinnegad. Those centres do a fine job. They have given a new lease of life to many people who had been confined to their homes and households by providing for them a new outlet and way of life. The helpers and carers within that organisation were promised that they would be made full-time staff and taken into the mainstream. However, that was not followed through. Again one finds that these groups rely upon volunteers, fundraising and other methods of gathering money to provide a skeleton service.

If one looks at what takes place across the country, we seem to have money for everything. We can spend €650,000 a year storing voting machines that will probably never be used and we spent €53 million purchasing them. Now they lie in warehouses around the country and many of the Government's friends earn big money storing them on an annual basis. At the same time people with disabilities must wait.

I see that the Minister of State, Deputy Parlon, from the midlands has entered the Chamber. I am glad he is present because I am about to turn to the midlands. The Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children is the leader of the Minister of State's party. The former Midland Health Board area consisted of the counties of Laois, Offaly, Westmeath and Longford. I have been informed by sources in that area that the budget allocated to provide services for people with disabilities will run out in September. There has been a real cutback in terms of services for people with disabilities in those four counties.

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