Ulick Burke (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State and the opportunity to contribute to the Bill. I cannot but remark on the body language of the Minister of State which is indicative of many of the sentiments behind the legislation. The Minister of State's comment last week in the Dáil that there was no opportunity to change disability legislation indicates it was resource-based from the start. The Government has little interest in a rights-based approach. If the Minister of State had his way, he would not have introduced the legislation in its current form. His consultation with groups in County Galway and elsewhere indicated his preference for a genuinely rights-based Bill, but we are not getting one.