Sheila Terry (Fine Gael)

I am sorry to labour this matter but, as Senator Kett said, it is the kernel of the Bill. It is worthwhile spending time on it. Enable Ireland stated the following in a submission to the Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights on 9 November 2004:

The Bill makes no provision for picking up gaps in service availability to assist service planning. If an individual's service statement only includes services which are available, then those other services identified as requirements in the Assessment of Need will remain unmet, and will not be identified for future delivery. Emphasis needs to be placed on proactively providing appropriate and sufficient services so that fundamental needs can be met. At present, many services are available on a very limited basis to people with disabilities. These included independent and supported living, assistive technologies and supported employment services. Given the limited nature of the Bill's stated scope (i.e. health and education), and the current shortfalls in provision of services, it would appear that the assessment of need is likely to be (a) curtailed to take account of only two facets of an individual's needs; (b) unpredictable based on the available budgets of a particular health board in a particular year or a particular time of year; and (c) occurring in a vacuum where service provision post-assessment is absent or limited.

I could quote several other submissions from various organisations who have expressed their dissatisfaction with this section but I am sure the Minister of State has read them too. There is no need to quote them further. It is an important issue. Will the Minister of State reconsider my amendments?