Frank Fahey (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

Amendment No. 4 would relegate the remaining provisions of the Bill dealt with in Parts 3 to 7 to the status of miscellaneous provisions. I believe the Bill represents a more comprehensive response to the concerns of disability than the Title proposed seeks to convey. On amendment No. 5, putting exclusive emphasis on rights will not give us the most effective results.

I want to refer again to the issue of resources, mentioned by three of the speakers. I pay particular attention to what Deputy Finian McGrath stated on this issue. He has personal experience as his daughter is a young person with disability. I must re-emphasise where we are coming from in respect of the problems outlined by various Deputies, most effectively by Deputy McGrath.

The reality is that in the mid-1990s, just ten years ago when Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Labour all spent time in Government, the increase in funding for disabilities in any one year was approximately €1 million. That is where the difficulties lie. This year the extra amount provided in the Estimates is €290 million with an additional €150 million provided in the budget, which amounts to €440 million extra this year for services for people with disabilities. It means a total of €2.9 billion will be spent this year which is three times more than in 1997 and represents 7.5% of gross public expenditure.

I am first to accept the point made eloquently by Deputy McGrath that there are serious gaps in the service and people are waiting for services. This Bill, however, is designed to underpin people's rights to obtain those services through an assessment, a service statement and the right of redress. The Bill is part of a multifaceted strategy that was outlined by the Taoiseach. In particular, the legislation will underpin a multi-annual expenditure programme, as outlined by the Minister for Finance in his budget speech. For the first time in the history of the State, half the budget speech was devoted to the provision of proper services for people with disabilities. Also of significance in that speech was the Minister's statement that the €900 million multi-annual expenditure over the next five years is only the start. It will be possible for him to provide extra resources over and above that in any one year during that period. There is no question, therefore, but that the Government is committed to providing resources in line with the points, correctly raised by the Opposition, about gaps in services. In those circumstances it is not necessary for people to go to court in order to have their rights determined by the Judiciary. There may have been a case for doing so ten or 15 years ago when all political parties neglected people with disabilities, but that is not the case today.

The top three people in Government — the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Minister for Finance — are committed to implementing this Bill in the spirit in which it was framed. They are also committed to providing the necessary resources in order to implement the legislation and, therefore, I reject these amendments.

See this speech in context