Liam Fitzgerald (Fianna Fail)

I thank Senator Dooley for sharing his time with me. I believe that the Bill is affirmative and empowering. However, it plays only one part in a wider strategy. When reading the Bill I was struck by its resemblance to the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004. The two pieces of legislation are similar in many respects and share a common framework. They must be compatible with the overall programme. In the context of education for the over-18s, the Bill supersedes the 2004 Act. A national framework was not previously in place for the delivery of education to people with special needs or other services for people with disabilities.

The reasons for consistency may be seen in the fact that both pieces of legislation fit like a hand in a glove. In keeping with the core aims of the overall strategy, the cause, entitlements and rights of human beings with disabilities will be advanced. I have heard a great deal of talk about laws and rights, which I hope to have time to address. To have all the rights in law one likes will be of no use if one is not empowered to have them vindicated.

Many speakers have referred to resources, rights and a change of culture and mindset. I welcomed the first indication I saw as a politician of a change of Government mindset in the publication of the report of the Commission on the Status of People with Disabilities in 1998. The Government decided every child with special educational needs had an automatic entitlement to a response. It was a defining moment after which a culture was broken which had perpetuated wrongs, denials, indifference and ignorance since the foundation of the State in varying degrees under successive Governments. From that decision have flown the Equal Status Act, the Employment Equality Act, the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act and the national disability strategy, which was launched last year by the Government. As individual components and in aggregate, the measures will contribute significantly to breaking the cycle of perpetuated wrongs and change the culture and mindset of our national administrators.

I agree strongly with previous speakers who pointed out the difficulty of achieving these goals. It cannot be done with money alone, though funding is important. It can be done through the national strategy which will also be adopted by the next Government. I assume it will be the same Government.