Frank Fahey (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

The provisions of section 12 look beyond the health and education sectors and provide a mechanism to allow the supply of relevant information in order to facilitate access to other services. The section is a significant and practical response to the concerns of the disability sector that the Bill should foster appropriate linkages to mainstream services.

Amendments Nos. 90 to 93, inclusive, would impose more specific obligations on liaison officers and on mainstream public service providers which are contacted by a liaison officer regarding the possible provision of services to an applicant. Section 12(1) allows the liaison officer, with the consent of the person with the disability concerned, to provide information to a mainstream service provider in order to help the person receive necessary services from that body.

Amendment No. 90 would oblige liaison officers to provide information after obtaining consent from applicants. It is my view that this amendment goes beyond offering the applicant support by placing an onus on the liaison officer and the applicant to comply with the subsection. As sensitive personal information is likely to form part of the assessment report, I would not like to see any change to the subsection which would put a degree of compulsion on the applicant. For these reasons, I do not intend to accept the amendment.

Amendment No. 91 would oblige a public body to communicate immediately with an applicant. Such an obligation would be extremely onerous and unlikely to result in the worthwhile and considered response to which the applicant would be entitled. I do not, therefore, propose to accept this amendment.

Amendment No. 92 would oblige a public body to communicate with a representative of the applicant and the liaison officer. This may not be the most appropriate way to proceed because it would not be conducive to clarity on whether primary responsibility to act on behalf of the person with the disability lay with the liaison officer or with the representative. As I said after extensive debate on Committee Stage, I do not propose to accept this amendment.

Amendment No. 93 would require public bodies to communicate with the applicant or representative within a maximum of six weeks. I have sympathy with the intent of this amendment in trying to ensure prompt attention for applicants. However, as this provision applies to a range of bodies which provide a variety of services, it is not possible to be prescriptive as to the timing of the response. The response will, in general, be governed by the arrangements for service delivery pertaining to the particular service. I do not propose to accept amendments Nos. 90 to 93, inclusive.

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