Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

I listened to the Minister of State's response to me. He continues, as do his colleagues who make similar arguments, to deny the core issue at the heart of this debate. Amendment No. 98 clearly reflects a core issue, namely, that this Bill should have been rights-based. The Minister of State may well believe everything he said in response to the amendment. I have no reason to doubt that he does, but it cannot be dependent on resources. That is the critical point. This section of the community, the people who are dependent on rights-based legislation, are dependent on our best judgment of their needs now and in the future. If we cannot guarantee them that, as has so often been the case down through the decades when the rope of the economy tightens in more straitened circumstances, the first to suffer are the most vulnerable and those with the least voice and clout in society.

I take great courage in the fact that so many of the representative organisations of people with disabilities right across the board have organised themselves so effectively. My prayer is that this may continue into the future because they clearly need to. Those of us who will stand with them need to ensure that the voice and clamour they have built, which will be reflected shortly at the gates of this House, turns into an effective lobby to change the heart of this or a future Government on this core issue. It must be based on rights and not resources, and the Minister of State has an opportunity in amendment No. 98 to make a critical gesture and statement and accept that fact based on that simple element of the five demands of the DLCG concerning the right to assessment of needs. The Minister of State should make the legislation rights-based and accept amendment No. 98.

As I am speaking, the funeral Mass of a very good friend is concluding for whom I had a long admiration and who was bed-ridden for the greater part of his adult life as the result of an accident. I would have liked to have been there. In tribute to Genie Treanor of Corracrin in County Monaghan and his memory, this was the place to be to fight for the rights of people like him and many others who have never known rights-based legislation, affirming their rights as citizens. I urge everyone to support this and the complementary amendments before the House.

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