Caít Keane (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I support the last speaker because it is important that anybody who makes a phone call, be they a public representative or a private person, deserves the courtesy of a response. If there is one message from today’s debate it is that the HSE has to pull up its socks and ensure that it responds, not alone to public representatives but to the public. There is a charter for caring.

All Departments are responsible for disability services. I spent many years on South Dublin County Council and every department in the place had a part to play. When the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Reilly, was in the House to discuss child care, I said a certain percentage of each budget should go into child care and the same for disability. It crosses all sectors in every community. We should use design for all but we have not arrived at that point. It should be the case that no building would ever be put anywhere without being totally accessible. It is much easier to plan right than to plan wrong and try to fix it. Design for all should be a mantra. The architects talk about it all the time.