Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Moloney, who has responsibility for the office for disability and mental health and who exercises additional responsibilities in the Departments of Health and Children, Education and Science, Enterprise, Trade and Employment and Justice, Equality and Law Reform. I acknowledge the work he has done since he took up office. He has been to the fore in addressing the needs of persons with disabilities at Government level. The new office for disability and mental health brings together responsibility for a range of different policy areas and State services, which directly impact on the lives of people with a disability and people with mental health issues. The office aims to bring about improvements in the manner in which services respond to the needs of people with disabilities and mental health issues, by working to develop person-centred services, focusing on the holistic needs of clients and service users and involving them in their own care. Substantial progress has been made in recent years in the areas of disability and mental health but much remains to be done. In particular, there is a need to improve co-ordination and communication across different Departments and agencies in the delivery of services to this client group. This will be the main focus of the Minister of State, which he has articulated well recently.

The national disability strategy, launched in September 2004, supports and reinforces equal participation in society of people with disabilities. The strategy contains a suite of elements, principally the Disability Act 2005, the EPSEN Act 2004——