Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

Through the Bill and the other elements of the national disability strategy, the Government seeks to offer practical and real benefits to those most in need of services and to support the efficient use of available resources. After listening to the Opposition, I am more convinced than before that the approach to rights taken in the Bill is the correct one. As the national disability strategy shows, there are many elements to the process of developing our disability services further. We have a road to travel to bring disability services to a level of which we can all be proud. Unlike the Opposition, I believe that court-driven policy is not an appropriate response to the service needs of the vast majority of people with disabilities.

Turning to the specific concerns of Deputies about the detail of the Bill, the definition of disability is based on the definition in the National Disability Authority Act 1999. That definition is narrower than that in the Equal Status Act 2000 and the Employment Equality Act 1998, so as to allow resources and positive measures to be focused on areas of most need. In contrast, the definition in equality legislation is broad so that discrimination is outlawed as regards all kinds of disability——

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