My Department, in common with the other Departments involved, has produced an outline sectoral plan. This plan was published in September 2004 at the launch of the national disability strategy which included the publication of the Disability Bill 2004 and the Comhairle (Amendment) Bill 2004.
The objective of my Department's plan is to ensure that, as far as is practicable, the schemes and services provided to people with disabilities operate in a manner which facilitates their full participation in society and meets the mainstreaming principle of the equality agenda. The plan provides the framework for progressing and developing services to customers. It gives a brief description of the range of schemes and services available to people with disabilities and covers a wide range of issues including performance standards, supports for people returning to work or education, proactive consultative processes to seek the views of people with disabilities, physical access to departmental premises, specific measures for visually or hearing impaired customers. It also describes the role of Comhairle in meeting the needs of people with disabilities, including the new personal advocacy service to be provided under the Comhairle (Amendment) Bill 2004. It was published in outline form in order to allow a period of consultation and discussion with relevant interested persons or groups before the plan is finalised and laid before the Dáil for approval.
The consultation process involves two major initiatives, the first of which has just been completed. It involved four regional briefings facilitated by the National Disability Authority and was designed to provide information on the contents of the plan and to seek informed feedback. The target audiences for the briefings were people with disabilities, carers, advocates, family members and friends, service providers and the general public. A report on the outputs from the four briefings is being compiled by the National Disability Authority.
The second initiative involves using the existing opportunities we have in place in my Department to get feedback and views from our customers with disabilities. We propose to seek feedback on our outline plan through the disability consultative forum which has been in operation since 1996. This forum comprises representatives of the principal disability organisations and service providers and meets on a quarterly basis. It acts as a channel to communicate the views of the relevant organisations to the Department and makes recommendations which can impact on policy formulation.
I am satisfied that, when finalised, the sectoral plan will provide a focus for the future development of services, provided by my Department, for people with disabilities and will include regular reporting on activities and improvements planned for the future. Production of sectoral plans is a matter for individual Departments. My colleague, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, has overall responsibility regarding the Disability Bill.