Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)

I am pleased to welcome the publication of the Citizens Information Bill 2006, which has finally made it to this House. In particular, I welcome the Bill's provision for the introduction of a personal advocacy service, to be operated by the Citizens Information Board. This service should help to enable people with disabilities to access the health and social services to which they are entitled. Disability groups have been campaigning for a long time for an advocacy service to be introduced. I am pleased that their Trojan efforts have paid dividends. I hope the advocacy service will be established in an efficient and effective manner, so it can be up and running by the intended date of 2008.

Historically, services for people with disabilities have been woefully inadequate in this country. We are slowly addressing the inequalities that have emerged as a consequence of those poor services. The Government needs to consider carefully the fact that a significant proportion of people with disabilities in Ireland, unlike many other countries, are residing in institutions. In 2006, it is not good enough to isolate people from their families and friends in institutions where they can be vulnerable. If the necessary resources are made available, it is possible to enable people to live in their own communities. I hope this aspect will be given attention by the Government in the near future.

An independent advocacy service is important if we are to ensure people with disabilities are fully catered for by service providers. The advocacy service will help people with disabilities to vindicate their rights and to receive equal treatment. It will allow people with disabilities who are unable to speak for themselves to have their views represented in respect of the services to which they are entitled. I welcome the Minister's initiative in broadening the definition of a "social service" in this Bill. It is useful to have such a definition enshrined in legislation. The definition could have explicitly referred to the areas of transport and access, however, as they are two important service components for people with disabilities. The Minister has yet to detail the geographic remit of the personal advocacy service. Will the service operate in regional offices? Will it be centralised in Dublin? If it follows the decentralisation model, it could be located absolutely anywhere. It would be useful to base the service in regional offices which feed into local structures. When service providers are located far from applicants, they can seem remote and intimidating. That is a problem we encounter in many of the areas with which we deal.

I am anxious to ensure the criteria for appointing a person as an advocate are appropriate. It is important that the best qualified and most appropriate individual should get the job. There needs to be trust and understanding between the advocate and the person whose interests they are representing. Ideally, the advocate would be well known to the person. An effective information campaign should be linked to this legislation to ensure the relevant people are aware of the new service, what it entails and how to apply for it. Organisations which represent the interests of people with disabilities will have a key role to play in the provision of information. Their views need to be taken on board by the Government and the Minister. People who are appointed as personal advocates must understand the needs and circumstances of the individuals whose interests they are representing.

I wish to speak about the dissemination of information about the new service. How does the Department intend to ensure that those who are eligible for the service are aware of its existence? Will special strategies be employed to reach people in residential institutions, for example? Will personal advocates receive training, briefings and in-service instruction? As changes are made in each budget, it is essential that personal advocates should begin with a good knowledge of the system. Similarly, they should be kept up to date as provisions and entitlements change, which they do on a regular basis. Members of the Oireachtas should be fully aware of the procedures for applying for a personal advocate position. People often contact their local Deputies in the first instance when they are filling in forms and dealing with Departments. Therefore, a comprehensive brief about the new service would be useful for public representatives. I refer not only to Deputies but also to members of local authorities and people on all other kinds of representative bodies throughout the country.

This proposed legislation will lead to substantial logistical demands. Personal advocates are allowed to attend any meeting, consultation or discussion to represent the person there. Who decides when such meetings take place, however? If the advocate is not qualified, the meeting may not take place at all. Who notifies advocates of these meetings? Are they entitled to such notification? The advocate can, at any reasonable time, enter any place where day care or residential care and training is provided to the person they are representing. No mention is made of places of detention and hospitals, however. Who defines what time of the day is reasonable? Will the service providers have responsibility for such decisions? Will it be necessary for an appointment to be made and notice to be given? When the advocate attends a meeting, what can he or she do?

A statutory or voluntary body that provides social services is required to co-operate with the personal advocate in the performance of his or her duties. A person who by act or omission obstructs or hinders a personal advocate in the performance of his or her functions shall be guilty of an offence and will be liable on summary conviction to punishment. Can a statutory or voluntary body be guilty of an offence? In the rest of the Bill, it states statutory bodies shall co-operate but here it mentions a person who obstructs or hinders an advocate. Who lays that charge? What checks and balances will be put in place to ensure that the system operates as it should in this context?

Another issue that needs to be addressed is monitoring the personal advocate's work and ensuring that all those with personal advocates are receiving equally high standards of service. This will be a difficult system to put in place, but it is vitally important. The advocate will occupy a very important role indeed and the entire premise for the system would be undermined if advocates were not performing to high standards. This is something that we really must get right in implementing this piece of proposed legislation.

This Bill provides for the establishment of a director of personal advocacy. Such a directorship will be an important but challenging task and it is, therefore, essential that the director's office is adequately resourced so that he or she can fulfil the functions without unnecessary impediments. Any director will benefit hugely from the expertise available through the disability support groups that exist. In the past provision has been made for new bodies to be established and then it transpires that they are swamped with work because of under-resourcing. We must ensure this does not arise in this case. The area of services for people with disabilities cannot remain the Cinderella of the sector forever and we must, therefore, ensure that funding and personnel allocations are true to the spirit of this legislation.

There is much else that could be said on this area and, once again, I welcome this Bill to the House. It is not before time and I hope it is the start of a real and sustained effort to ensure that people with disabilities are afforded equal rights and fair treatment, not only in theory but also in practice. I look forward to the enactment of this legislation when the time comes and I hope that it will make a real difference to many lives in the future.

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