David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister for his response. The issue is that two functions are involved. One function will be delegated to the assessment officer who shall be independent in his work. He or she will have to take an overall view of the needs of an individual with a disability. The Minister has not explained how the liaison officer will perform his or her functions. How is he or she to reconcile the needs of the person with the resource constraints? The proposed legislation does not spell out how that can be done and it is important that we would be informed as to how liaison officers would operate. Liaison officers are being given extensive powers under the Constitution which, in effect, are ministerial powers. Many different issues are involved in this regard. How will resource constraints be reconciled with the needs of the person? We are dealing with the budget of the Health Service Executive. Many people will be drawing on this budget at any one time and it will fluctuate. The Minister must provide clarity on this issue and tell us how it will be done.

A professional person should not have difficulty in carrying out an independent, objective assessment. Neither should he or she have any difficulty in examining what services can realistically and practically be provided.

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