Results 221-240 of 15,268 for speaker:Kathleen Lynch

Disability Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (25 May 2005)

Kathleen Lynch: This amendment seeks to make sense of the Bill. It is incredible that the officer who performs an assessment will take no account of the availability of resources. The assessment is then passed to another officer who must take this availability into account. The Minister accepts that this Bill will be dependent on capacity, which we all know is not sufficient. There is not a sufficient number...

Disability Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (25 May 2005)

Kathleen Lynch: Has the figure increased? I would accept that argument if the money which was supposed to be made available this year was allocated, but the Minister of State accepted that did not happen. Areas now experience cutbacks because money is not flowing as it should. I am not saying that the money is not available, but that it is not allocated as it should be. There is already a difficulty with...

Disability Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (25 May 2005)

Kathleen Lynch: The amendment is sensible. A person with disabilities would meet an assessment officer who would draw up a service statement. A liaison officer would not be sitting outside the door of the assessment officer so that he or she could immediately act on the service statement. The proposed system would cause delays, additional journeys and confusion. In the first instance a person would be...

Research Funding. (25 May 2005)

Kathleen Lynch: Question 32: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food if, in regard to her speech at the opening of the Teagasc biotechnology centre on 6 May 2005, she intends to take steps to promote or encourage investment in research and development for the food and agricultural sector; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17385/05]

Disability Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (25 May 2005)

Kathleen Lynch: That is exactly what the Minister of State said.

Disability Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (25 May 2005)

Kathleen Lynch: The grouping includes amendments Nos. 51 to 56, inclusive. Amendment No. 51 is straightforward and offers a more concrete wording by the substitution of "shall" for "may". This will ensure that the matter is not open to discretion, and that it shall happen. The Minister will make provision for what is sought in amendment No. 51 and I shall withdraw amendment No. 52 on that basis. I wish to...

Disability Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (25 May 2005)

Kathleen Lynch: It is not even a technical amendment. It relates to the language and the attitude involved. I appreciate the Minister taking that on board and changing the terminology for how consultations would be notified rather than the present wording that virtually commands people to appear before an assessment officer.

Disability Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (25 May 2005)

Kathleen Lynch: The concerns of the Opposition are not about the competence of the Minister taking the Bill. Clearly she is a competent woman. She would not be where she is if she were not. Nobody is disputing that.

Disability Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (25 May 2005)

Kathleen Lynch: Anyone could be answering because our concerns are not being taken on board. It is the same script, regardless of who reads it out. It could be me, the Clerk, the usher or anyone. The script is the script and there is no discretion and no one is prepared to listen. Sometimes, that one is not talking does not mean one is listening, and the script is the script. On this side of the House it...

Disability Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (25 May 2005)

Kathleen Lynch: ——because fortunately we do not need the types of services which are supposed to be provided in this Bill. However, it is not all right for people who desperately rely on it.

Disability Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (25 May 2005)

Kathleen Lynch: I move amendment No. 51: In page 12, line 11, to delete "may" and substitute "shall".

Disability Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (25 May 2005)

Kathleen Lynch: I move amendment No. 61: In page 13, line 2, after "person")" to insert "has or". This section deals with an application for assessment. It is just as well the House has been dealing with this Bill for a long time. Someone reading it for the first time would be completely confused. Certain sections of it do not gel. For example, section 9(1)(a) says: Where— (a) a person ("the person") is of...

Disability Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (25 May 2005)

Kathleen Lynch: I am still at a loss having heard the Minister of State's reply. I listened carefully to what he said and I believe he is of the same opinion as me, both of us being at liberty to form opinions. If I have a disability, it is not a matter of opinion; it is a matter of fact. It should not be up to myself or someone else to form an opinion as to whether I have a disability. That is what I...

Disability Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (25 May 2005)

Kathleen Lynch: That is the most ridiculous statement I have ever heard. The Minister of State is saying one does not know that one has a disability until someone tells one that one has a disability and yet one will have gone for an assessment. Why would one do that? Is the Minister of State indicating that a person who does not believe he or she has a disability would apply for an assessment and suddenly be...

Disability Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (25 May 2005)

Kathleen Lynch: My point is——

Disability Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (25 May 2005)

Kathleen Lynch: Perhaps I am the only person who thinks like this, but one either has a disability or one does not. It is one or the other. In the case of some people because of the way this Bill is framed——

Disability Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (25 May 2005)

Kathleen Lynch: Can the Minister of State provide an example of that?

Disability Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (25 May 2005)

Kathleen Lynch: I will conclude. I do not know of any circumstances where a normal — whatever one considers to be normal — healthy, active person would be of the opinion that he or she has a disability and has that confirmed after applying for an assessment, when up to that point the person was not certain about that. I do not know of, and it is unlikely I will ever meet, anyone in that category.

Disability Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (25 May 2005)

Kathleen Lynch: I can guarantee that the parent would know that from every early on.

Disability Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (25 May 2005)

Kathleen Lynch: I move amendment No. 62: In page 13, lines 7 and 8, to delete "form such an opinion" and substitute "make application under this section".