Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the witnesses for appearing before the committee. The dignity and rights of those individuals affected is at the heart of this subject for me and for this committee. Our systems still have a kind of paternalistic attitude that views people with intellectual disabilities as requiring care, rather than enabling them to live as independently as possible and appropriate. Choices in this regard are limited to congregated settings, which we are trying to move away from, or dependency on family care, which presents its own challenges in respect of an ageing population and the disgraceful way in which carers are treated. We must replace this system with a one-size-fits-all model that focuses on one thing, which is individual rights.

The slow progress made in the HSE's time to move on policy in respect of congregated settings is symptomatic of this perspective. Since the strategy commenced, of the initial 4,000 people identified, only 661 people have been supported to transition out of congregated settings. As Professor McConkey said, at this rate it will be another 20 years before decongregation is completed. We must also be aware that this issue concerns people with intellectual disabilities whose rights to act on their own behalf are legally limited, especially given the delay in the commencement of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act.

My first questions are directed to Ms Flanagan and Professor McConkey. Ms Flanagan highlighted the importance of the personal assistance service, which offers disabled people independent living. I ask her to elaborate on what we must do regarding policy and legislation to ensure that a system based on personal assistance is in place for all disabled people. Turning to Professor McConkey, I ask him to outline the significance of an individual resource allocation model, in which budgets and supports are assigned to individuals based on need. I refer to the potential of such a model to enable disabled people to employ personal assistants and to secure the specific support services they need, especially with respect to engagement with the community.

If there is time then, perhaps at the end, I have a question for Professor Gulati. He spoke about the disproportionate number of people with intellectual disabilities living in emergency accommodation. The historical absence of independent, supported living accommodation and, as far as we know, in our new builds as well, is probably the biggest contributor to this. Will he please comment on whether other systemic barriers or factors contribute to this disproportionate number of people with intellectual disabilities residing in emergency accommodation?