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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 8 May 1997

Vol. 479 No. 1

Ceisteanna—Questions. Priority Questions. - Disabilities Report.

James McDaid

Ceist:

1 Dr. McDaid asked the Minister for Equality and Law Reform the steps, if any, he has taken in relation to other Departments regarding the implementation of the Report of the Commission on the Status of People with Disabilities. [12411/97]

In tandem with the publication of the Report of the Commission on the Status of People with Disabilities, I obtained Government approval for the establishment of an interdepartmental task force to draw up a plan of action on the rights of people with disabilities, based on the report, and a monitoring committee comprising representatives of people with disabilities, their families and carers, service providers, the social partners and a number of Departments to monitor the implementation of the commission's recommendations.

The task force commenced its work in January of this year. It is chaired by my Department and is representative of all the major Departments which have responsibility for the wide range of policy issues on which the commission's report has an impact. Material for inclusion in the plan of action is being prepared by each Department. The work of the task force is ongoing and it is expected to complete its report by mid-year. It will be then presented to Government for consideration.

On 18 April I launched the monitoring committee. The terms of reference of the monitoring committee are to advise the interdepartmental task force on the prioritisation of the recommendations of the Commission on the Status of People with Disabilities; to provide any assistance and support required by the task force to facilitate the preparation of the plan of action on the rights of people with disabilities; to advise my Department as required on the drawing up of a detailed implementation strategy arising from the commission's recommendations; to make proposals to my Department on mechanisms for monitoring the implementation of the commission's recommendations; and to monitor the implementation of the recommendations of the Commission on the Status of People with Disabilities which have been accepted by Government or by Ministers.

I am sure the Minister will agree that the Report of the Commission on the Status of People with Disabilities is one of the most significant documents concerning social issues, containing 402 recommendations. We had a debate in the House last week on the report and I ask the Minister to give an assurance that time will be made available to continue that debate. Will the Minister indicate also if the Ministers for Health, Education and Social Welfare will participate in any future debate as there is some overlapping in the report in regard to areas which come under their remit? Will the Minister indicate if the task force he has set up is in a position to issue a timetable regarding the implementation of the report?

I agree with Deputy McDaid that the commission's report is one of the most significant documents on the rights of people with disabilities produced since the foundation of the State. I regret I am not in a position to give a guarantee on the continuation of the debate, but the matter can be discussed by the Whips. If it is possible to make time available to enable that debate be continued, I would be agreeable to that. I will mention the matter to the Government Chief Whip. In so far as overlapping in the report is concerned, the recommendations in the report clearly cover the briefs of many Ministers. For that reason, the interdepartmental task force is representative, at a senior level, of the Departments required to have an input into the ongoing progression of the implementation of the report's recommendations. That is the meeting point where the various Government interests will come together to set the prioritisation which obviously has to be made. Deputy Keogh has tabled a question on the timetable and I will deal with that in more detail when we reach that question.

One of the main recommendations in the report is that disability policy should be centred on one Department. The Minister indicated on a previous occasion that that Department should be a section of the Department of Equality and Law Reform. Has the task force contemplated the resourcing of such a Department within the Minister's own Department? Will the Minister indicate whether this area will be dealt with by an assistant secretary as opposed to a principal officer? The Minister has agreed this is a significant report dealing with approximately 12 per cent of the population. If the Minister agreed to have this area dealt with by an assistant secretary in his own Department, it would be welcomed by all the people concerned.

I can indicate the level of prioritisation that will be provided by the report of the task force when it becomes available. We should have it before too long and I look forward with considerable interest to receiving it. My Department is adequately resourced to do the job deputed to it. It is no secret that I hold the view that, in accordance with one of the recommendations of the commission, the Department of Equality and Law Reform should have overall responsibility for this area. That is the policy of the Labour Party and I am interested to hear the views of Members from other parties in that regard. As to the level of staffing, be it principal officer or assistant secretary level, that matter would have to be examined in the light of decisions that would have to be made at the appropriate time.

As the report has been completed for more than a year, will the Minister indicate if any of its recommendations has been already dealt with? A key issue in the report is the right of people with disabilities to income support. I referred in my previous question to the Department of Social Welfare because people with disabilities have many more expenses and a lesser degree of earning power. Approximately 80 per cent of people with disabilities are unemployed. The Minister said he was interested to hear the views of other parties on this area. Fianna Fáil takes a serious view of it. Islanders also have a degree of disability with regard to earnings. I hoped, therefore, the Minister could tell the House whether any of the report has been recommended, whether he has been in touch with the Department of Social Welfare and whether that Department regards people with disabilities as requiring income support.

Let us not tax this Minister with responsibilities that are clearly not his. This would seem to be the responsibility of the Minister for Social Welfare.

All Departments that have an input into the implementation of any of the recommendations are represented on the task force. All appropriate matters will be dealt with and carefully examined by the task force. I look forward to the report, and we must wait to see what it says.

Deputy McDaid asked whether any of the priority recommendations of the Commission's report have already been implemented. One of the priority recommendations was that appropriate funding should be provided for the new Council for the Status of People with Disabilities. That has been done, and I will refer to that in reply to a later question. Likewise, one of the priority recommendations called on the Government to take appropriate action in the revision of the EU treaties so that provision in connection with disability would be made there. That too is actively in train by the current Government.

We are all guilty of some degree of inability to recognise people with disabilities who are faced with inaccessible services inflexible bureaucracy and, above all, general public ignorance which compounds their exclusion. Is there any policy within the Department, and would the Minister agree that it would be a good idea to launch a campaign in the print media and in the visual media, to make the general public more aware of the problems faced on a daily basis by people with disabilities?

This Government and the previous Government have taken steps to put the issue of people with disabilities on the agenda in a manner that was never even tentatively approached before. I refer to setting up the commission and the huge publicity that attached to that, to the listening exercise carried out, to setting up the Council for the Status of People with Disabilities, to the many public statements I and my colleagues have made in connection with it, and to the legislation, including the Employment Equality Bill and the Equal Status Bill which the Government processed through the Houses of the Oireachtas. All these have put people with disabilities to the forefront of the agenda of priority issues as never before. That process which was started by this Government and by the previous Government will be ongoing and will pick up speed as it goes, and it is long overdue.

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