David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)

I am glad the Minister of State has arrived for the debate. Significant bureaucracy is being built up around the Disability Bill and this amendment represents a way of reducing it. There is fear among those concerned that a disproportionate amount of resources will be devoted to administration. An example of this is the provision for the appointment of assessment officers and liaison officers. This amendment proposes that one person should perform both these roles rather than passing files back and forth between different people and so on. I raised this issue with the Minister on Committee Stage.

Notwithstanding my proposal for a new joint role of needs officer, another issue is the question of how the liaison officer is to reconcile the needs of the person with the resource constraints that will arise. The Bill fails to spell out a method or criteria for doing this. Liaison officers will have real difficulty in performing this function because the budgets of the executives will fluctuate. How are they to know what limits should apply? This is an issue that must be considered.

The structure of the legislation may indicate that inadequate weight is given to the constitutional rights of those with disabilities. The Minister of State fudged this point yesterday in his observation that there are people making money through a manipulation of constitutional rights. However, the Constitution is a vital document that outlines the fundamental rights of every citizen. Under the Constitution, the Supreme Court is the body charged with its interpretation. I respect the Constitution and the judgments that flow from the Supreme Court. I would not contend that many people are making money through a manipulation of the Constitution's provisions. We are all in trouble if the Constitution is thrown aside or fails. It is the basic safeguard for every citizen and that is its function.

It might be argued that, by failing to spell out the principles and policies on which a liaison officer is supposed to exercise his or her discretion, these officers are delegated excessive powers. This arises from Article 15.2 of the Constitution. We must be careful about what is allowed, particularly in terms of the role of the liaison officer. These are serious matters concerning bureaucracy and assessment and liaison officers. The degree of bureaucracy might be reduced if one person did the job of both liaison and assessment officers. The question also arises under this legislation as to the method of operation of the liaison officer.

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