Joanna Tuffy (Labour)

I wonder about the Minister of State's response to amendment No. 18. The section's current wording means it is up to the discretion of a Health Service Executive employee whether to arrange an assessment for a person whom he or she thinks may have a disability or is in receipt of a health service provided by the executive or both. The main contact for people covered by this section is with the Health Service Executive which has strong obligations with regard to such people. They may not have anybody else and may not be in a position to make an application themselves, nor might they have a third party, as allowed by the legislation, to make the application for them. The Health Service Executive would have a very strong duty to ensure that person was assessed. I understand why it is discretionary but many people could be left out on that basis, perhaps the most vulnerable who might not have regular contact with family members.

My amendment No. 18 proposes that the HSE employee should be obliged to apply for assessments. The reality is that people can be forgotten about. We want to make sure that everybody entitled to an assessment under this legislation gets one. This section covers a large number of people who could lose out. The HSE must be vigilant in making sure that people who are primarily in contact with its services are assessed. Is the issue dealt with in the regulations? Will the HSE receive guidelines?