Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)

I am surprised the Taoiseach has not received a copy of the mid-term review by the Community Platform Network. I understand this report was sent to the secretariat of the partnership group and I presume it is readily available there. In any case as the mid-term review was extensively reported in the media, the Taoiseach should ask his much-vaunted media-monitoring group why it did not bring the contents of the report to his attention. On the wider issue, given his road to Inchydoney conversion last year, does the Taoiseach not think that even the publication of the social progress report by CORI in recent days indicates the direction and effect of many of the Government's policies are still negative in terms of those who are without in our society? The social partnership process cannot be all-embracing and representative if many of our citizens are still being seen to be treated in this way by the Government, especially when those who are very much wedded to that process still persist in saying these things. Perhaps the Taoiseach might outline the value of becoming part of the partnership process from a community and voluntary sector viewpoint. One new actor involved in the process since Sustaining Progress has been the disability sector. If the hope behind involvement in the process has been that Government policy might be influenced and legislative change achieved, how can the Taoiseach reconcile that with the fact that the disability sector, while now within the partnership process, is faced with a Disability Bill that all disability rights organisations——

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