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

This is something this committee definitely needs to support and to push for its implementation, something we all would be happy to do. I will move on to the National Federation of Voluntary Service Providers.

How do you envisage service provision changing to align with the UNCRPD? To move towards ratification and full implementation of the UNCRPD we must promote and support independent living. There is probably a need for personalised budgets so that people have a choice on how to live all aspects of their lives. We had witnesses before us who talked about service provision and the difficulty they had in identifying a suitable placement, for example, for a school-leaver because many of the facilities were located in industrial estates and did not look like educational facilities. Indeed, some services are quite poor in that regard. I heard of a person who has Down syndrome and completed the leaving certificate but in the service was put to colour in pictures. That caused regression rather than progression. Many will say the service provided is of a one size fits all type, with a take it or leave it attitude. We know one size does not fit all. It has to accommodate all levels of need. I note the witnesses state that their members have been in consultation on the new housing strategy. Can they clarify please, is that the service users? If we are properly to implement the UNCRPD, people with disabilities and DPOs need to be involved in the consultation, in line with the "nothing about us without us" concept. To whom are the witnesses referring?

The witness also mentioned a collaborative approach undertaken by services together with the HSE during Covid-19. Many people felt totally abandoned by service providers and the HSE during Covid-19, especially in the first six months. Many people have said they had no support whatsoever and indeed they queried where the budget for their service user had gone in that time because they certainly did not receive any of it and they had additional costs during that time.