Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This is an issue that Deputy Canney raises continually, as do I. It is why I am chairing the transport committee, which operates right across all of the various Departments, to find those solutions. The Deputy is right that it is unacceptable that the board has not been put in place. It is unacceptable that the legislation takes such a narrow view that it cannot be worked within. We are hoping to have a board put in place as quickly as possible but also that the legislation will be amended to take into account that it is no longer just about a limb or half a limb, or a leg or half a leg. That is no longer acceptable as the view of a person with a disability. We have to look at all of the other factors concerning people with a disability and be far more inclusive when we are setting the criteria. That is what I expect to come out of the consultation that is taking place at this time within all the Departments. It is not just for the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and is also for the Departments of Health, Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform and Transport; it is cross-Government and cross-Department. This is exactly the scoping piece that we talked about. It needs to be sorted out as soon as possible because these are the barriers that are in front of people. I do not find that acceptable and I am trying to find a solution.

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