Vol. 473 No. 2
7 Dr. Woods asked the Minister for Equality and Law Reform whether he intends to establish a national disability authority to monitor policy, standards and the implementation of the recommendations of the Commission on the Status of People with Disabilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24809/96]
I have been authorised by the Government to establish an interdepartmental task force to begin work on the preparation of a plan of action on the rights of people with disabilities, based on the report of the Commission on the Status of People with Disabilities. I have already put in train arrangements to set up the task force which will meet early in the new year.
The Government has also authorised me to establish a monitoring committee, comprising organisations representing people with disabilities, their families and carers and service providers, as well as the social partners and Departments, to monitor the implementation of the commission's recommendations. In this connection, I have asked the Commission on the Status of People with Disabilities to meet on one more occasion to nominate four or five members to the committee. I understand this meeting is scheduled to take place on 10 January 1997.
Among the issues to be considered by both these groups will be the question of establishing a national disability authority. I look forward to considering their recommendation in this regard in due course.
When does the Minister expect the national disability authority will be established? He told us he has been given authority to set up an interdepartmental task force but what is the time frame for the establishment of the authority?
I am not in a position to say at this point. The question of the establishment of the national disability authority will be one of the important matters to be dealt with by the task force which, as I said, is being established on foot of the publication of the report. That process is under way and letters to the relevant Departments were issued on 12 December asking for their nominees to the task force. The manner and timing of the establishment of the authority are some of the key matters which the task force will examine, no doubt in consultation with the monitoring committee.
There are great fears that this matter will be put on the long finger and left in abeyance for quite some time, and that there will be more talking, discussions and task forces. Most of the people involved know what needs to be done. The report set out many of the practical measures which need to be taken. Will the Minister and the Government not consider giving the task force a time limit, such as three months, for producing definite proposals so that it will be an action task force?
Where is money provided in the Estimates to meet those positive proposals? There is no additional money in this year's Estimates for the implementation of any of these proposals. What plans does the Government have to provide resources to meet the priorities set out by the task force? Otherwise it will just be another talking shop.
There is no question of holding up the operation of the task force. As I said, letters have already been issued by my Department to relevant Departments asking them for their nominees to this task force. A recommended time period — the middle of next year — will be set for the presentation of the task force's report.
We are talking about 402 recommendations which have to be sifted, examined, prioritised and costed and arrangements must be made with the relevant Departments. We are not talking about their implementation by just one Department but about responsibilities affecting most, if not all, Departments. Most Departments will have roles and involvements in regard to people with disabilities. These must all be arranged, costed and prepared. Many Departments already have funds provided for various aspects of the lives of people with disabilities. The extension of those on a year on year basis will have the attention of the monitoring group, in particular.
These are sensible procedures to put in place for dealing with a very major report covering all aspects of the lives of people with disabilities. The Government takes this very seriously which is why it set up and funded the commission. There will also be a permanent Council for the Status of People with Disabilities which will have a major input and play a major role.
It is fair to say that never before has any Government got as near to addressing the realities of the lives of people with disabilities. This report will be a blueprint for their lives and their assistance over the years. I am very pleased, as is the Government, to have been instrumental in producing it.
I was a member of the Government which set it up.
And how well they did it.
That was in November 1993. We now have the report in December 1996. Could the Government not provide the resources to implement even a small number of the recommendations? For example, there is a request for a disability support service which would ultimately come under the national disability authority and would provide disability resource centres throughout the country. We know that disability resource centres work because I was involved in setting up one with the Irish Wheelchair Association which has been extremely successful and very helpful.
Could the Government not say at this stage, or in the next budget, that some practical step will be taken so that people with disabilities will see that this will not be just another report to be considered at some future date? All these matters should be considered but some practical actions should also be taken. Will the Minister seek resources before the budget so that some practical steps can be taken urgently? Meeting that request of people with disabilities will give them confidence in the system.
It is very easy for Deputy Woods to flick through the report and pick out one particular item from 402 recommendations, but the Government must go about this in a sensible, practical, ordered way. It is doing that by setting up a task force to prioritise these items and a monitoring group, which will include in its membership people with disabilities, their families and carers, to work with the task force.
As far as funding is concerned, various Departments already have built into their funding various aspects of the commission's report. For example, the Department of Education has ongoing programmes for people with disabilities and my Department has produced anti-discrimination legislation, which is a subject extensively dealt with in the commission's report. Of course, the Government will keep under review at all times funding needs in a budgetary context on a year on year basis.
Deputy Woods can be assured that the Government, having set up this commission, secured its report, set up a task force and monitoring committee and provided funding for an ongoing Council for the Status of People with Disabilities to give them a permanent, ongoing voice, will take care of their needs and roles safely and securely into the future. The Government regards these issues as extremely important. We take the view that people with disabilities are full citizens and must be provided for with exactly the same care as everybody else. We have established that procedure, base and precedent which will be put into force this year and in the years to come.
Is the Minister saying that none of the recommendations in the strategy for equality will be in place until at least six months' time? It is very important for the Minister to be exact about that. People with disabilities welcome the report, but they are impatient. Would it not be possible to implement some of the recommendations before the six months have elapsed? Will the Council for the Status of People with Disabilities be up and running in the early months of next year as reported? Without in any way taking away from the work of the task force, will the Minister agree that the six issues brought up by Mr. Justice Flood in the foreword to the report point to issues that could be addressed without waiting for the results of the task force examination? If there are over 400 recommendations, does it not make sense that some of the more obvious ones might be put into operation sooner rather than later?
I understand that the Council for the Status of People with Disabilities have fixed a date in March for the launch of the organisation, and extensive arrangements are under way in preparation for it. A number of regional conferences have been held — I addressed the regional conference for Leinster which was held in the last couple of weeks.
Implementation of recommendations is an ongoing procedure in the various Departments. The Departments will look at the Commission's report to see how it impacts on their work programmes for people with disabilities. I cannot say that any particular recommendation will be dealt with now, but it is open to Deputy Keogh to table a question on any particular item to the Minister who deals with that aspect.
These matters require funding, and it is provided by the Government in the Estimates for 1997. Deputy McDowell, the spokesman on Finance for the Progressive Democrats, and Deputy McCreevy, the spokesman on Finance for Fianna Fáil, who again and again pass adverse comment on the Government's social expenditures — they call it frittering away taxpayers' money — have to accept that they cannot have it both ways. We will wait to see what kind of discussion takes place in the House tomorrow on the Estimates. There is no point in Deputies Keogh and Woods coming in at Question Time and telling the Minister for Equality and Law Reform that there should be more expenditure on this or that when they send in their spokespeople on Finance to criticise the Government's expenditure on important social matters such as the needs of people with disabilities, education, health, environment, housing and so on.
Let this be the concluding question. I would like to speed up the pace to accommodate other Deputies who have tabled questions.
Perhaps I might be of some use to the Minister on the question of remarks made about spending. The Minister's colleague in the Department of Education needlessly spent £150,000 on a very glossy report on education which had already been published in black and white. That is the kind of waste of money we are talking about.
The Minister touched on a very important point. He must realise that now is the time to do something about people with disabilities. Various things have been done over have years, and the country is much better off. There is a need to keep expenditure under control, but that is a separate question. The Government should also recognise needs.
One cannot do both.
That is where the Government is wrong, and where the problem arises. We depend on the Minister inside Cabinet to fight his corner and to get a slice for people with disabilities. I was in Cabinet with the Minister and fought the corner with him. He needs to fight for people with disabilities and to get resources now rather than in the distant future.
I assure the Deputy that his reliance on me in this regard is very well founded. I thank him for his support in the past. In turn I look for his support in securing from his spokesperson on Finance support for these necessary social expenditure measures for which the Government has provided in 1997. I look forward to his support on these matters when the Government debates them tomorrow.
