Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach and I wish everybody a good afternoon. I thank everybody for joining us here today on the committee. I have a number of questions on the topic at hand to look at the co-ordination, implementation and oversight of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, CRPD, on the one hand, and the lack of clarity around the ratification of the optional protocol.

First, Ms Gibney has mentioned something that resonated greatly with me when she pointed to the fact that the technical terminology of words like "optional protocol" and "ratification" disguised the fact that this is about value and worth, about equality, and disabled people being able to demand that their rights are safeguarded and provided for by this Government. The shift from disabled people being seen as objects to be cared for to being people with rights requires deep attitudinal transformation and corresponding cultural, social, systemic and structural changes to reflect that shift of perspective. So far, the transfer of the disability portfolio from the Department of Health to the newly-formed Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has been mainly semantic. Yes, finally the word “disability” explicitly appears in the title of a Department, but that is not much good if the Department is not actively progressing policy and programmes.

The Department of Health dealt with disability through a medical model and addressed services. This Department must bring forward social, rights-based developments.

Interestingly, in the Revised Estimates for public service finances, under the five programmes listed under Vote 40, none is disability-specific. The only distinct investment in the progression of the rights of disabled people in its allocation is to the National Disability Authority through the equal and inclusive society expenditure. The Minister, Deputy O’Gorman, announced, Hub na nÓg, a new programme for youths; he has commissioned a new anti-racism task committee; and luckily there are several well-established programmes for children. It is becoming more and more apparent that disability is the aspect of the Department that is falling by the wayside. Will there be a disability programme in budget 2022?

The rest of my questions are about timing, funding and responsibility. Looking at timing first, can the members of the Department here outline the roadmap as to when the roll-out of the programmes mentioned in the lead up to budget 2022, such as the access and inclusion model and the employers for change initiative, will happen?

Second, on funding, will the Department dedicate more disability-specific programmes in the upcoming budget for 2022 in order to honour the provisions of the CRPD and its centrality in the overall remit of the Department? I know that the transfer of the portfolio has many financial complications and consequences. Although the Department may not have a full allocation for disability services that does not prevent it from initiating equality-based empowerment, educational and rights-based programmes.

On responsibility, as per the expertise from the CRPD committee together the European Disability Forum, there has to be interdepartmental co-ordination in order to effectively realise the provisions of the CRPD. Where is the Department on that issue? What actions have been taken to have representatives from different Departments working together on disability-related issues? Is stewardship needed or expected from the office of the Taoiseach to oversee the transfer of functions? The transfer has been ambiguous as to a clear timeline. A constant fog surrounds the ratification of the optional protocol. It will take several more years if we wait until the final first reporting cycle is complete. When combined with the extremely protracted nature of the CRPD in the first instance, this points to a general political unwillingness to accelerate the changes that are needed.

Lastly, who is responsible? Is it the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte; the Minister, Deputy O’Gorman; or possibly the Taoiseach who can review the decision to delay ratification and give some teeth to the convention? Gabhaim buíochas.