Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the importance of the Golan Heights issue but it might have been useful to us if we had a little more time. None the less, I appreciate the urgency of the situation.

I refer to the Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014 because, to say the least, there is a considerable amount of confusion about the impact of this Bill. It includes changes to the charges to be applied to people with intellectual or physical disabilities who avail of assisted accommodation provided by the HSE. The Disability Federation of Ireland and other groups are very concerned about the impact of a number of the amendments to be made by the Bill. I understand a committee was set up to look at this area of charging people with disabilities and that it comprised people from the Department of Health and the HSE but nobody from the disability sector was engaged in that process which, I suggest, was extremely reprehensible.

The Disability Federation of Ireland is concerned that the charges will adversely impact on people accessing respite services for a period of time, together with the inevitable consequences that this new set of charges will have for people in residential accommodation.

Our national disability strategy and the Disability Act-----

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