asked the Minister for Health if, following the publication of the Green Paper on the disabled, there will be a White Paper, or legislation to implement the recommendations contained in the Green Paper on the disabled.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Green Paper on Disabled.
8.
While the Green Paper is essentially a discussion document, it does contain a number of firm proposals on the development of services for the disabled.
I shall be discussing the Green Paper, in general, with disabled people and their organisations before undertaking any action arising out of it. I do not consider it necessary to publish a White Paper before doing so.
The question of what legislation, if any, may be required will be considered in the light of the discussions to which I have referred.
1982 was the International Year of the Disabled. The Green Paper which was subsequently published, laid down many recommendations or firm proposals, Could the Minister indicate what urgency he attaches to the implementation of some of these proposals? Does he recognise the enormous contribution of the voluntary organisations? If these were withdrawn, the health services would be devastated. Does he recognise the urgency of implementation of proposals for long term residential care of the disabled?
A number of observations on the Green Paper have been received. I understand that the Union of Voluntary Organisations for the Handicapped will be submitting their observations very shortly. I also understand that UVOH devoted the two days of their 1984 annual general meeting to discussing the Green Paper, while the Irish Wheelchair Association at their conference in Ennis in October last on residential care for the physically disabled discussed the Green Paper. The Department of Health will be organising a conference to discuss certain key aspects of this paper. The date, venue and final agenda have not yet been decided because we are due to receive the major responses such as that of the NRB in June. Much work has been done by the voluntary bodies and the statutory agencies on the Green Paper since it was published. I expect to have all their views within a matter of, at the most, two months. Then we shall go ahead and implement a number of recommendations. Although it is a Green Paper, in effect it is virtually a White Paper in terms of recommendations.
Has the Minister made a special allocation to any of the health boards for last year or this year so that they might implement some of these proposals? It was stated in the Green Paper that the Minister would be making an allocation of moneys for that purpose.
Not particularly. I have not yet received all the responses from the various health boards. Certainly, I shall be in a position to consider that matter within two months, particularly when I receive the NRB observations. There I expect a very comprehensive report on the situation. I am not aware of any health board or voluntary body being in any way short of money in this regard.
Could the Minister say which health boards have not sent in a response?
A great deal of money is being spent, for example, from the social fund in this area. Our general services for the disabled are away ahead of many other countries, including the UK.
A last supplementary question from Deputy Mac Giolla.
Subsequent to the great promises of the International Year of the Disabled and the Green Paper, would the Minister recognise that in many cases — both in the long term care homes and institutions and in general — disabled persons are non-persons? The important thing is to give them independence. There are many areas where legislation will not be required. Would the Minister consider, for instance, the health boards' review of long term care institutions and homes, with a view to giving the disabled some more input into the running of these centres and also some income in their own right, which they do not now get?
We are debating the whole subject of the disabled now. This is a wide-ranging debate, indeed.
Can the Minister implement proposals which do not require legislation, in order to give some hope to the disabled people that something is being done? They have not seen any change since 1982.
As one who initially shared the Deputy's view, all I can say is that certainly in the past five years there has been an exceptional degree of change in this area. We are getting away from the institutional structures for the physically disabled. The changes which are manifestly evident in giving independence, home ownership and hostel accommodation within the community, have blossomed in the past four or five years. There are very considerable changes which go back to the work of dedicated individuals in the late seventies and early eighties. The changes are coming very rapidly.