Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In fairness, the Minister of State has outlined where he is coming from within the Government and his Department, and that is about the visibility and making sure that what is passed in the House can be implemented in full within a timeframe. The Minister of State has outlined the three key issues that he wants to move forward with.

With regard to the whole sign language area we need to set out a clear plan, setting out clear targets about what we want to achieve for the people who need to use sign language.

Reference was made to the courts. There are constitutional rights, and I have said this at a number of meetings. People have constitutional rights and if an interpreter is not available to deal with a case then a case cannot legally proceed. I do not care what ruling a judge may make, a case cannot proceed if the person to whom the case relates is affected because there is no interpreter there to interpret what is going on and what is being said. That constitutional right is there and it does not need legislation. If Senators want to put it into legislation then that is not a problem, but the right is already there.

I believe that the issue of clear targets in this context is an aspect that is missing in respect of the HSE and other public services. I have raised the issue previously about the role of disability officers in local authorities, which was introduced. I keep on raising the issue about disability officers in local authorities. When I put in a freedom of information request two years ago to a number of local authorities, each one of them had a different interpretation of the role of a disability officer. Some had the interpretation that their only role was around wheelchair access to public buildings and other local authorities had the issue about making sure the disability officer was available to every person who had a disability to ensure they could access every service provided by the local authority. It is important, in the context of this debate on this Bill, to note that it is not only about legislation, it is also about setting out clear targets and a clear timeframe about introducing the changes that are required. We need to make those changes, especially around health services and public services.

Let us move forward on this issue. The Minister of State has made it quite clear that he is prepared to take on the proposals, not all of them, that he knows he can implement. This is why he looks for us to come to an agreement so that we all know that what is agreed to pass is achievable, rather than setting out in legislation something we know cannot be achieved. It is extremely important that there is agreement by all sides on this. It is fair enough that people are pushing forward this target. While there is no problem in making sure that it is an ambitious target we must make sure it is something that can be implemented and delivered within a reasonable timeframe.