Maria Corrigan (Fianna Fail)

I thank all the Senators who contributed to what has been a very informed debate in the last couple of hours. Senator McFadden and I are frequently in agreement and share many of the same thoughts, beliefs, hopes and aspirations. I can understand where she is coming from in the points she has made, but I regret that she did not, perhaps, have an opportunity to hear the earlier part of the debate when we made it very clear that while we welcomed the announcement today as a great step forward for people with disabilities, this could only be the starting point. If we do not get the mental capacity and guardianship Bill before us in sufficient time to be able to consider and amend it and if we do not take steps to support particularly vulnerable adults within the criminal justice system in engaging with the Garda Síochána and the courts, this advocacy service will never reach its full potential. I understand the point the Senator is making but, far from clapping ourselves on the back, we have acknowledged it in the announcement of the service and its commencement in January 2011. Members have made the point that it has been slow to commence and that we will lose out because of the pilot projects, but that is not the case, as the pilot projects will finish at the end of December and the service will start at the beginning of January. The fact that there will be no hiatus between the two is to be welcomed. The announcement of the service today is a step forward. By itself, it will not be sufficient for what all Senators want to achieve, but it is an important step and must not be underestimated. I hope it will bring us further down the road. The fact that the service is to begin in January 2011, despite the economic circumstances in which we find ourselves, sends a powerful message to people with disabilities: that we will try, as far as possible, to ensure they are somewhat protected from the impact of the economic climate.

The Minister spoke about the fact that he personally had an interest in supporting access to employment for those with disabilities. We can see the impact of the economic circumstances on people with disabilities. Everyone in our society needs the economy to recover, particularly those with disabilities. It is not only that the development of their services depends on our being able to establish an economy that will generate funding; in addition, when the economy is doing well, there are more employment opportunities. People with disabilities are the first to be hit in an economic downturn. The great thing about the boom years was that we had such a shortage of labour that people with disabilities were supported in training and taking up positions and had access to employment opportunities.

In moving forward with the advocacy service, which I welcome - I urge all colleagues in the House to support the motion - we do face challenges. The service will face challenges in the context of the relationships and situations in which people with disabilities find themselves and in which the service will become involved. These could be anything from issues regarding bank accounts, access to welfare entitlements and the spending of money based on the needs of the person with a disability to his or her happiness with a placement, whether it is a day service, a supported employment placement, a training opportunity or a residential placement. These are the challenges we will all have to face as the result of the establishment of the service, the only intent of which is to meet the needs of the person concerned. That will be its only motivation. It will be a challenge for all of us in society to accept that an advocate's only agenda is to tell us whether a person with a disability is happy with his or her situation and ask us what we will do about it. That will certainly put it up to us.

The second challenge we will face is in the legislation. I mentioned earlier that establishing services for people with disabilities and ensuring we put in place mechanisms and supports to enable people with disabilities to take their full place in society as equal citizens were not just matters of money. The required legislation, including the Mental Capacity Bill, must be brought before us in sufficient time for us to consider it because it has enormous implications for all aspects of life. We must also establish supports for vulnerable adults within the criminal justice system. If we do not do this, those advocating on behalf of people with disabilities will be limited in how they can deal with situations.

I thank my colleagues, the Minister of State, Deputy Áine Brady, and the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Ó Cuív, for their presence. I believe we are further down the road, but we are not there yet and still have a long way to go. However, the establishment of the national advocacy service is an important step forward. I, therefore, ask all Members to support the motion.