Mr Ahern said it would combine the National Social Service Board (NSSB) with certain disability support functions of the National Rehabilitation Board (NRB). The proposal was one of a series of measures being undertaken by the Government to streamline the provision of services for people with disabilities.

"The Government fully supports the principle that people with disabilities are entitled to all the rights and privileges associated with citizenship and that all obstacles to the enjoyment of these privileges should be removed," he said.

Mr Ahern said the Government's action plan for the millennium recognised disability as one of the most important social challenges of today. It included, as stated priorities, implementation of the report of the Commission on the Status of People with Disabilities and the achievement of greater equality for people with disabilities.

He said the Comhairle Bill would ensure that people had access to accurate, comprehensive and clear information on the full range of social services.

The Fine Gael spokesman on social affairs, Mr Jim O'Keeffe, said the new body would be using the citizens' information centres of the NSSB and the NRB premises throughout the State. He hoped the premises would be accessible to mobility-impaired people. If this was not the case, the matter should be rectified without delay.

He said it should not be assumed that all of the people who wished to access the information available were literate. Recent studies had shown that a sizeable proportion of the population was functionally illiterate.

Written information must be user-friendly and clear. "Sometimes excessively complicated language is used in information booklets provided by statutory bodies. It is essential that information available to people with disabilities, and to their families and carers, is both clear and comprehensive."

The Bill passed its second stage.