Liam Fitzgerald (Fianna Fail)

The strategy will be reinforced to end forever the culture of indifference and resources will be an integral part of the process.

Over the past couple of days, two suggestions were made of which I am very much in favour. As the tone is set and culture is established at the top management level in public administration, there is a great deal of merit in Senator Kett's proposal to initiate obligatory in-service courses for policy formulators as part of sectoral plans. It might seem insensitive of me to say that about upper management in the public service, but I make no apologies for doing so. It is a laudable suggestion which should be pursued. The Leader made the laudable suggestion that a special subhead should be established within the budget of each Department with a sectoral plan and I urge the Government to adopt it.

It has been said repeatedly on this side of the House that it is Government policy to mainstream services for disabled people. The fancy term "mainstream" means simply that all persons with disabilities should be accorded the full rights which everybody else takes for granted and have them vindicated without regard to those disabilities. It is through mainstreaming that the blindness and indifference of the past will be put behind us forever. While we have made substantial progress in the seven years since 1998, we have a considerable distance left to go. No Government, therefore, will be able to front-load overnight the resources and services needed to close a very wide gap created by past indifference. As able-bodied people gained access to more and better services, those who were ignored were left behind and a gap widened which cannot be bridged by an unequivocal legislative right.

I turn now to the issue of rights which has permeated the entire debate. While I pay tribute to the Minister of State, Deputy Fahey, who brought the Bill before the Houses and put the final touches to it, we should not forget the contribution of the former Minister of State, Deputy Mary Wallace. It is all too easy to forget about someone when his or her watch is over. The House, public and disability groups——