Joanna Tuffy (Labour)

I thank the Minister of State and his staff. The legislation going through today is significant and contains much that is good. A great deal of work has been put into it by allconcerned, including the Minister of State's officials, people involved in the consultation process and those involved in drafting it.

However, as we have said all along, the legislation does not go far enough. It is based on the mindset that disability is separate, an afterthought, rather than on the premise put forward by the disability sector that disabled people have the same right to participate in society as anybody else. Inclusivity is the starting point and should be the focus of every cent spent on the issue.

Both those in the DLCG and those who have left the group are unhappy that there are five issues that have not been addressed. These are that rights should not be resource dependent, that there should be assessable timeframes for meeting people's needs, that funds should be ringfenced, that every Department should be involved in disability-proofing and that this disability-proofing should be embedded in the system.

The Minister of State did not respond to the suggestion that there should be a disability commissioner. It is a good idea and I hope he will consider it in the future, perhaps in further legislation. The Ombudsman might have a brief in this regard but it would be a good initiative to have a separate person who would represent people under this legislation, overseeing the whole system but also dealing with questions of whether individual rights had been met.

The right to appeal the contents of an assessment is a key omission from the Bill and I do not understand the reason it was not included. The right to an assessment is the most fundamental aspect of the legislation. However, many people will be unhappy with their assessment and, as Senator Terry has said, ultimately there should be a right to appeal to court as an appeal of last resort.

The legislation should be about mainstreaming the rights of people with disabilities. It is does not achieve that but it is a step in the right direction. I hope it is monitored over time and that additional legislation will be brought forward to further extend people's rights.