Frank Feighan (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State. I hope the Government gets the legislation right this time. The previous, long awaited disability Bill, published by the former Minister of State, Deputy Mary Wallace, was greeted with outrage by the disability sector and was withdrawn following strenuous objections by the main disability organisations because it was not rights based.

Since then the Disability Legislation Consultation Group, DLCG, has been established. I pay tribute to the many representative bodies on the group, which include the Disability Federation of Ireland, the Forum of People with Disabilities, Mental Health Ireland, the National Association for Intellectual Disability in Ireland, NAMHI, the National Parents and Siblings Alliance, the National Federation of Voluntary Bodies, the Not-for-Profit Business Association and People with Disabilities in Ireland. The range of groups involved in the DLCG shows how frustrated and upset these groups have been in recent years.

I was shocked to read in a NAMHI pamphlet that more than 3,500 people with an intellectual disability are waiting for services, while a further 1,600 people are on waiting lists for a residential place. That is unacceptable in this day and age.

Following the withdrawal of the Bill, the Government established the National Disability Authority with a remit to facilitate meaningful dialogue at national level with people with disabilities, their families, carers and service providers. As part of this process, the Disability Legislation Consultation group published proposals in a document entitled, Equal Citizens. The first proposal, on independent needs assessment and service co-ordination, is that the legislation provide for an automatic right to an independent assessment of need and that services identified as necessary in such assessments be given as a right. Where such services are not currently available, a programme of measures should be put in place to establish them within an established timeframe. In contrast, the Government proposals on needs assessment are not rights based and contain no reference to providing assessment as of right. It also proposes to introduce phased assessments.

Under the heading "Accessibility", the Equal Citizens document states that people with disabilities must have access to all transport, buildings and so forth open to non-disabled people as well as appropriate services in the area of information and communications systems. The Government proposals contain no timeframes within which accessibility and mainstreaming must be achieved. Instead, it will publish draft sectoral plans which will not be finalised for another year, that is, not before the Bill has passed.

The Equal Citizens document also proposes the introduction of an independent complaints process and suggests that complaints be submitted to the Office of the Ombudsman. It also states that officials from the assessment Departments or service providers involved in the assessment of need should not be involved. Under the Government proposals a complicated system for complaints concerning service provision would be established, but the various complaints officers, in making their decisions, must take account of available resources. In the case of mainstreaming, access to the Ombudsman will be provided.

The Government proposals do not place an onus on the Minister for Finance, Deputy McCreevy, to provide the necessary resources for disability. In addition, other Ministers must take account of the fair and equitable use of resources for people with disabilities from within their budgets. Legislation is of little use without proper resources. Funding for disability should, therefore, be ring-fenced.

Why has the additional Government expenditure during the past five years not eliminated waiting lists? The answer is simple; it has underestimated the level of need. With local and European elections approaching, many of the disability organisations will ask all candidates and political parties canvassing for votes to support rights based legislation.

We need to commit to a programme of capital and revenue funding to eliminate waiting lists for residential day and respite places and to abolish the means tested carer's allowance and replace it with direct payment to all carers. As a politician, I find it frustrating that carers who stay at home to provide an excellent service which saves the health boards and the Exchequer vast resources in time, money and expertise are not given the recognition they deserve. They must receive fair pay for their work. It will be extremely difficult for them to continue without receiving the funding they deserve. I ask the Minister of State to ensure carers are recognised and properly compensated for a job none of us wants to do.

It is not unreasonable to request that the Government place an onus on the Minister for Finance to provide the funding needed for rights based disability legislation. Having been forced to withdraw the previous Bill as a result of the controversy it created, the Government should ring-fence money for the forthcoming disability legislation. I wish the Minster of State well and ask him to remember carers.