Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and the Minister of State to the meeting. I, too, welcome the formation of the committee. It was called for for a long time but did not happen until now, so it is great that it has happened. As the Minister noted, disability is not just a health issue; it is a much broader issue and I fully agree with that. We have to be careful not to overlap with the other committee but rather work with it, as we said earlier we would. It is the job not just of this committee and the other to deal with disability but of every Department. The Minister sits at the Cabinet and has to ensure, on behalf of every person with a disability, that every Department meets the needs of those in our community who are disabled.

Deputy Murnane O'Connor mentioned transport. In my area, if somebody needs a wheelchair-accessible taxi in a rural area, he or she will charged twice that of someone who needs a regular taxi. Public transport is not available in many rural areas.

Whose responsibility, ultimately, is the closing of congregated settings? It had come under the remit of the Department of Health. Is that still the case or is it a matter for the Minister's Department? A deadline of 2018 was set for closing congregated settings but that was not met. It has now been moved to "ultimately" happening at some stage but that is very vague and needs work.

That brings us to the issue of supported independent living, not just in congregated settings. Many adults aged 20 to 60 live at home with their parents, but that is not fair and does not respect their dignity and independence. They need supported independent living but it is not available or achievable. On the other hand, there are older parents, many in their 70s and 80s, who care for their loved ones, and their main concern is what will happen to them after they pass away. That is not a matter to be left until they do so; it should be dealt with now. People should be given the respect and dignity they deserve. Many people, especially those with a physical disability, need a personal assistant service to live independently, but again that is very difficult to access and is not being provided. What procedures are in place to deal with that?

Disability allowance and carer's allowance seem to be some of the most difficult payments to secure from the Department of Social Protection. The carer's allowance takes months for some reason. It is very difficult and often it will have to be appealed a number of times before being granted. The same is true of the disability allowance. I was disappointed the disability allowance was not increased in the budget because the cost of living with a disability is much higher than the allowance reflects.

The Covid payment is €350 per week whereas the disability allowance is only €203. They also have extra costs of medication or other services they might need on top of that. This should be dealt with too.

The issues are huge and there are an awful lot of them, but I would like Minister and the Minister of State to answer the questions. We will be working through the different issues as we go along. I hope this committee will also hold other Ministers from other Departments to account to make sure they are playing their role in making us a disability-friendly nation.