Vol. 473 No. 2
6 Ms Keogh asked the Minister for Equality and Law Reform his response to the Report of the Commission on the Status of People with Disabilities entitled, A Strategy for Equality; the immediate proposals, if any, the Government has to implement the recommendations contained therein; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24668/96]
I warmly welcome the publication of the Report of the Commission on the Status of People with Disabilities which will have a profound effect on the lives of people with disabilities and their families and carers. The report is a unique and historic document which has seen, for the first time, people with a disability speak with one voice and clearly articulate the steps required to ensure they will be treated as equal citizens. The recommendations in the report will become the cornerstone of future Government policy on people with disabilities.
The report impacts on a wide range of policy issues which are the responsibility of many Government Departments and agencies. The Government has decided to prepare a plan of action on the rights of people with disabilities based on the report, and has authorised me to establish an interdepartmental task force, chaired by my Department, to begin work on the preparation of that plan. I have already put arrangements in train to set up the task force which will meet early in the new year.
I have also been authorised by Government to establish a monitoring committee, comprising organisations representing people with disabilities, their families and carers, service providers, the social partners and Government Departments, to oversee the implementation of the commission's recommendations. The monitoring committee will assist me in prioritising the changes necessary and bringing those proposals back to Government. I have asked the Commission on the Status of People with Disabilities to meet one more time to nominate four or five members of the committee and I understand the commission will meet on 10 January 1997 for that purpose.
I join the Minister in welcoming the publication of the report which is an historic document. It contains hundreds of recommendations and the Minister intends to establish an interdepartmental task force to advise him on their implications and when they can be implemented. When does the Minister expect the task force to report? Will there be a timeframe on that? Since the publication of the report was later than many people anticipated, it is important that the understandable frustration of people with disabilities is taken into account, particularly when we consider the appalling position in which those people find themselves in society. The Minister said also he has sought nominations to the monitoring committee. Who has the Minister asked to nominate people to the committee? Will the nominees be people with disabilities?
I thank Deputy Keogh for her kind comments about the commission and its report. In regard to the nomination of persons to the monitoring committee, rather than get involved with negotiations on the various organisations I have asked the commission to meet one more time to nominate for me four or five members of the committee who will be the representatives of people with disabilities on the monitoring committee. I understand the commission will meet for that purpose on 10 January next. There will be other representation also on the monitoring committee but so far as representatives of people with disabilities are concerned, they will be nominated by the commission and I will appoint whoever the commission nominates. In so far as the report of the interdepartmental task force is concerned, I expect there will be a time constraint and I hope its initial report will be available by perhaps the end of June.
In his forward to the report Mr. Justice Flood called for immediate action on six issues; for the sake of brevity I will not refer to them all. Will the Minister be in a position to act immediately on those issues which cover substandard facilities for people with disabilities as well as funding of the permanent Council on the Status of People with Disabilities?
I cannot say that at this time, but obviously such issues will have the immediate attention of the task force. The task force will have the entire report and it will be open to it to draw any particular matters to my attention. Various matters that have relevance to the report of the commission are already ongoing, both in my Department and in others. The report contains 402 recommendations, so we are talking about a major piece of work that will be the responsibility of Government for a number of years to come. Prioritisation will be a major undertaking for the task force. That is the reason I am anxious to get it up and running as quickly as possible, likewise the monitoring committee which will work in association with it. We have to make a major start on this project to decide which recommendations will be brought forward as priority items. I will be in a better position to judge the situation when I get the report of the task force in the middle of next year.
Will the Minister indicate if it is intended to go ahead with the Council on the Status of People with Disabilities from next January, as reported initially?
That is really a separate issue but I can tell the Deputy that arrangements in that regard are well under way.
We will take the two remaining priority questions in the category of Other Questions because of time limitations. Question No. 7 is in the name of Deputy Woods.
