Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I commend Senator Clonan not just on bringing forward this legislation but on all his work on disability issues. I am delighted the Minister of State is here, because she is someone who has a passion for this brief. She really understands the sector and wants to deliver on the sector.

As a country we have an opportunity to make a transformation for those with disabilities. That we have moved responsibility from the Department of Health to the Department with responsibility for integration is significant. We are going to be talking about a rights-based approach. I have a frustration I know Minister of State shares, because we have talked about it, and we see it in health and in education. It is that families and individuals who have disabilities must fight every single step of the way. It is about the culture within the system. There is a fear of setting precedents. There is a fear that if we open the door for this person with a disability it means there will suddenly be an avalanche of cases. If there is, in one sense, so what? Let us deal with it. However, in many cases we are talking about individuals who just want the best for their family. The Minister of State knows the cases we are talking about. We are talking about the likes of Andrew Geary, who fought for his deaf son Calum. Andrew would have been very happy to sit down with officials from the Department to look at ways his son and others could get education. We see so often that those with a disability must spend their whole time fighting for their rights against the system, so to speak, and we need a shift in the culture that is happening.

I despair of the HSE's approach in a lot of these issues. I appreciate there are challenges because there can be shortages of staff and so on, but the approach must be about asking how we can best meet the needs of the individual. Individuals and their families are reasonable people. They will totally accept being told they may not be able to get 100% right away, but that there is an end goal and here is where we are going and that we should work together to achieve that. Instead, as the Minister of State knows, case after case is fought. We end up with Commencement debates in here and parliamentary questions in the other House. We end up with court cases. When cases finally get to court, there is frequently either a settlement on the steps or a decision is taken against the State. Consequently, we need more than just legislation in this area but a shift in the culture within Departments.

Frankly, I am fed up, because I know too many people who are battling in these areas. The Minister of State knows them as well. I say genuinely about Anne Rabbitte that there is nobody I know who is battling harder. She and I have talked about the section 39 organisations and getting the issues resolved there. We have talked about a whole range of disability issues. As she knows, our parliamentary party meetings have discussed the budget being able to deliver on those. We can introduce legislation, provide additional resources and so on, but if there is not a shift in culture we will not get change.

I am disappointed there was not consultation about the timed amendment. I will not be supporting the Government amendment.