Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

Again, the Minister of State has confirmed that he will not accept my amendment nor any of the other amendments which try to set out rights. The intention of my amendment and the ones that flow from it is to confer rights and ensure that if those rights are denied, people will have recourse to a remedy for redress. The Minister of State has not adopted that track in the legislation.

I am not alone on this. It is not something I dreamt up last night or the night before. This is something for which a number of organisations have called. It is what we lived and hoped for after the debacle over the previous disability Bill.

The Long Title sets out the context and intention of the Bill. The intention of my amendment is to change it. The amendment contains five different points the purpose of which is to ensure equal rights for people with disabilities. Equal rights for people with disabilities are to be affirmed and protected. Positive action must be taken to enable people with disabilities to live with maximum independence and autonomy. They must have equal rights to participate and contribute to society. The Bill must guarantee a minimum standard for the provision of disability-specific services and, finally, it must guarantee the progressive realisation of the right of equal access to all public buildings and services.

This Bill, as currently formatted and presented, does not include any of those five rights. That is the reason I want to amend the Long Title. I want to ensure this appears in the Title, at least, and that the rest of the legislation is amended to take heed of that change. I made my points yesterday and will not repeat them now. I will make another attempt at convincing the Minister of State when we get to amendment No. 5 where we will try to amend the Title of the Bill. However, at this stage we are dealing with the Long Title. Even at this late stage the Minister of State should adopt my amendment, which I will press.

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