Katherine Zappone (Independent) | Oireachtas source

This has been a brilliant discussion. I wish to comment on the issue of how a UN convention would ultimately help. The witnesses spoke about the provision of services and providing support to older people in their community. The discussion we are having clearly indicates we have a long way to go to protect the rights of older people, whether with regard to mandatory retirement age, long-term residential care issues, dementia care or elder abuse, which was also raised in the presentation. My reflection with regard to the question raised initially by Deputy McGrath, to which the Chairman has brought us back, is how, ultimately, the convention would result in practical supports. It may not be so far down the road because in the process of encouraging Ireland to support the development and writing of a convention, there could be much advocacy and awareness raising in this regard. The most important aspect is that there could be a parliamentary conversation on what it would mean, why we would need it and where there are gaps, as well as perhaps a national conversation, which would raise a focus on the rights of older people in a way there has not been before. This might make us create different laws and policies in the process of getting to the convention.

If we do get a convention, and I hope we do, we would have international law to which we must pay attention in our domestic lawmaking and policy-making. One of the problems, which is why this committee is so important and why we fought so hard to get it established, is that often parliamentarians are not part of the conversation to see how well we do in monitoring these international laws. The committee tried to examine whether we could have a part to play in supporting the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Department of Justice and Equality in the ratification of the international convention on the rights of people with disabilities. We were told we could not do so because the law would have to be changed. Who is doing this then? It is various Departments and civil servants. I am not saying they are not doing a great job, but parliamentarians are not engaged in the conversation. When we are not engaged in the conversation, we do not understand how international law on human rights can help us in our law making to achieve more quickly better long-term residential care or support to people in the community.

In response to Deputy Ferris's question on what we can do, we would probably have to write to the Minister for Justice and Equality to write to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade because this is a justice sub-committee. We could support the witnesses in encouraging Ireland and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which again raises the question why it should be left to that Department, to see the merits in such a convention. This is the whole point, and the better parliamentarians understand what the merits might be, the better we can encourage this. That was a comment.