David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)

I wish to speak to amendment No. 3. It has been said that this Bill is fatally flawed. I do not say this lightly but it probably is flawed. There is a flaw at the heart of the Bill and my advice is that it may not withstand a challenge.

Line 3 of the Long Title appears to blame people with disabilities for their disabilities. The phrase "occasioned to persons with disabilities by their disabilities" is superfluous. It does not serve any purpose and is insulting. It is like Old Testament language because it is blaming the sinner for the sin. There is no need for it and the Minister should delete it from the Long Title. We know people with disabilities have needs. We do not have to indicate in the Long Title that they have needs because they have disabilities. We know that and people with disabilities know it. I do not understand the reason for that phrase in the Long Title.

In line 4 of the Long Title the Government is inserting a reminder to everybody that this is not a rights based Bill but a service Bill that deals with health and education needs only in a very limited way. It reminds us that the Bill is "to enable Ministers of the Government to make provision, consistent with the resources available to them and their obligations in relation to their allocation, for services . . .". That is an immediate reminder that the Bill will be resource constrained. Problems arise with that later in the Bill which I have identified and to which I will alert the Minister of State.

I suggest deleting the insulting phrase which blames people with disabilities for their own disabilities because it serves no useful purpose. Nor is there a need for a reminder that the Bill is resource based. To keep the Long Title simple and straightforward it should read: "An Act to enable provision to be made for the assessment of the health and education needs of persons with disabilities and to enable Ministers of the Government to make provision for services to meet those needs . . . " and so on. That section of the Long Title should be deleted.

The other two amendments mention rights. Perhaps the Minister of State will tell us, having thought about it over the past few days, whether the Bill gives rights of any sort to people with disabilities. The right to an assessment is mentioned but that is resource constrained. There is no actual right in the Bill to anything. There are certainly no rights to services of any sort. It is totally dependent on resources. People will have assessments of their needs carried out and the liaison officer will then have to determine the services that can be made available. The Minister might tell us how the liaison officers will do that because there is no reference to it in the Bill. The way a liaison officer will carry out that function is not clear in the Bill. The Bill is silent in that regard. Will the liaison officer have to carry out an audit of the accounts of the Health Service Executive to determine if there is the necessary funding to make a service available? How will the liaison officer do that? The Bill states that a liaison officer will have to do that. That comes back to the issue of resources. We are reminded in the Long Title that the Minister has to make provision consistent with the resources available but it does not explain how the liaison officer will do that. The Bill states that the Minister will devolve his or her authority to the liaison officer but it is unclear how the liaison officer will act. That is an impossible task to give a liaison officer.

My amendment would simplify the language in the Bill, remove the insulting phrase I referred to and the reminder about resources, which are not necessary in the Long Title. If the Minister has to insert it later in the Bill, fair enough but it is not necessary to include it in the Long Title. I will conclude as I am conscious that there are many amendments to discuss and I am interested to hear the Minister of State's reply.

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