Mary White (Fianna Fail)

The responsibility should be covered in the legislation. Some €38 billion is spent each year on infrastructure in the country and generally the disabled are excluded from this Government expenditure. The head of the Disability Federation of Ireland drew our attention to those who are now disabled and who will become disabled in the future, which I had not fully considered. Now that we are living longer the chances are that all of us will become in some way disabled with, for example, rheumatism and arthritis. Not only is this provision required in legislation, but also the Secretary General and Minister of each Department need to ensure that any money spent includes people who are disabled.