Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I thank Senator Kelleher for bringing forward this Bill. It is quite comprehensive and a lot of work has gone into it. I pay tribute to the Senator and the people who helped her because it is a very carefully drafted document, not something that was drafted in a very short period of time. A lot of thought has gone into it.

It is very important that we provide the level of safeguard and security proposed by the Bill, particularly as it is now very relevant. While we might initially think the Bill will concern people with disabilities, there has been a huge demographic change in this country and we have more and more older people who will benefit from it. The age profile in the country is going to change quite dramatically. We also have more and more people living on their own whose families have left the country, meaning the level of family support that was there in the past may not be there in years to come. That is something to keep in mind. This Bill is very important from that point of view. The Bill clearly sets up mechanisms for dealing with those situations and providing safeguards such as setting up the national adult safeguarding authority, the functions of which are set out in the Bill. The Bill is well thought-out in that respect.

One of the Bills I have brought into this House was in regard to professional home carers. There is currently no regulation of those who are providing home care. That is an area that needs to be dealt with. There are 32 organisations providing home care services but they are not really covered by legislation. There is an understanding between the HSE and these organisations but there is no statutory regulation in place. That is something which this legislation covers also. It would be worth looking at Senator Kelleher's Bill along with the Bill I brought forward in regard to home care because there is not adequate legislation in place to deal with this area.

There is an issue about legislation that is in place but not being implemented. An example of this is the role of disability officers in local authorities. I have spoken to a number of different local authorities, each of which has a different interpretation of the role of the disability officer. I raised this issue because I came across a family whose child had intellectual and physical disabilities. I have mentioned this before in this House. The family needed major changes to their house in order to look after their child. Six years later, nothing had been done by the local authority. When I contacted the disability officer, the response was that it is not the disability officer's job to advocate for that child. The disability officer saw the role as being to provide access to public buildings, not to advocate for people with disabilities. That interpretation is wrong. When I rang the National Disability Authority, it had a totally different interpretation. It is an issue that is quite easy to check out. The Minister of State could write to every local authority, setting out the role of the disability officer, and examine whether there is legislation in place which is not being implemented. I believe there is. I have asked the National Disability Authority to write to each local authority and update them on the role of the disability officer. When I rang one local authority, its disability officer had got two things done that year at a cost of €8,000. That was the only work the officer did during the year as disability officer because this person also had responsibilities for other areas in the local authority. That is a very simple issue to rectify. It is grand to bring in legislation and have it in place but then we must ensure it is used effectively.

This is very welcome legislation because it opens up the discussion about the responsibilities and duties of individuals and statutory and local authorities. We need to see if they are being used effectively. If one takes the case of the child with major intellectual and physical disability, I had to take that all the way to the Office of the Ombudsman for Children before I got the local authority to do the necessary work on the house for the family. It is important that legislation which is brought in is followed up on.

At section 12 of this Bill, the role of the independent advocate is clearly set out. That is extremely important because there are situations where an adult may be living with his or her parents but the parents are unable to adequately put forward their concerns. This could be someone with a disability. That is also extremely important.

I welcome this legislation. It opens up the entire discussion. I agree with other Senators that it is important that the legislation is not parked for another three or four years before being dealt with. We must bring forward comprehensive legislation to deal with all of this area and also the issue of home care and home care providers.