Mr. John Dolan:

I am pleased to have got the invitation to be here today. I thank all the members of committee for their interest in this.

Disability is a societal, it is not an issue for people with disabilities and their families. That is a core thing we want to say. Almost 600,000 Irish citizens have a disability and if that is doubled to reflect the other people who are also deeply affected, that is 25% of the population. People out of work due to illness or disability are five times more likely to be at risk of poverty. Families where the head of the household is not at work due to illness or disability experienced an 11.3% drop in their disposable income in the period 2010 to 2012. Therefore there is a need for the Government and the Departments involved here today to use this budget to deliver on their pre-election commitment to protect people with disabilities from the worst effects of this recession. Both the education and social protection sides can play a key role in protecting people and improving their situation.

When we talk about the disabled we should be clear. They are in some cases ourselves, our parents, children, partners and neighbours. Disability is very much bound up in everything that goes on in the community. The odds are stacked against a person with an illness or disability in Ireland. People not at work due to illness or disability have the highest levels of consistent poverty at almost 18%, as against a national rate of just under 8%. Some 48% are at risk of deprivation, whereas the national rate is still too high at 27%. A third of young adults between 25 and 29 with a disability left school before completing second level compared with one in six of young people with no disability. Some 21% of people with disabilities aged 15 and over are in employment compared with 50% of the general population in the same age.

We are stating very clearly and boldly that to date the Government has failed to protect people with disabilities from the worst effects of the recession.

While this coming budget may not necessarily be the last budget of this Administration, it will be the last budget for which there will be a full year in which actions can be implemented that will stand to improve the lives of people with disabilities.

I will make a few points in respect of the income side. In 2011, 45% of people with disabilities experienced income poverty and 36% of people with a disability experienced basic deprivation. The protection of basic payments, which the Disability Federation of Ireland, DFI, acknowledges has been done, does not equate with the protection of the basic and necessary income people need when one takes it in the round. Recent work by the ESRI has estimated that approximately €1,000 per annum is needed to deal with the additional cost that people with a disability face. That is an average figure, which could be higher or lower. Even if this estimate exceeds the true figure by a further 100%, it is still massive and this is a major issue. There has been a chipping away at disability-specific and mainstreaming supports and we suggest there is a strong lack of understanding of the challenges faced every day by people with disabilities and their families. Many things have happened that are specifically outside the remit of these two Departments. While the details are included in the submission and I will not go into them, they all add to the load people must carry. The point is that it adds to increased costs of living and a reduction in autonomy and of opportunity. As an emergency or interim measure, the federation is calling for an increase of €20 to the disability allowance to try specifically to do something tangible about the real risk of and issue about poverty. There are other issues, including the household benefits package, the domiciliary care allowance, the free travel scheme, and so forth.

I will move on briefly to education and to the subject of education as a gateway to participation in employment. Disability is one of the least visible but most potent factors in educational disadvantage. The ESRI commissioned a report, entitled A Social Portrait of People with Disabilities in Ireland, which shows that a reciprocal relationship exists between disability and educational disadvantage. In a nutshell, one is talking about young people in the main and what that means is if one goes off the tracks at that stage, one will be off the tracks for the next 50 to 60 years. Consequently, the fallout from not having it right early on is massive. Access to education at all levels is critical to ensuring people's full participation. While there are issues regarding special needs assistants and the National Educational Psychological Service, I will not go into them in detail here and members can come back to them if they wish. The forthcoming budget must attack the educational marginalisation of people with disabilities in order that they can participate. While one could put that in fancy language about their human rights and all the rest of it, it is just to enable them to get on and have the chance of having a life.

As for access for people with disabilities who wish to seek employment services, there are issues with regard to how the Intreo offices are operating, on the Youth Guarantee as well as on access to JobBridge and Momentum. These are all issues, and in some cases, people with disabilities are debarred from participating in these programmes, which means one never gets to the starting line. I will state clearly that people with disabilities are not going back into special schools. They and their families believe and expect that they will have a good education to prepare them for work. This is what is up for grabs in this regard and this is why people are and will be quite tenacious, bothered and upset about the present position.

In May of this year, the current Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton, stated: "We have concentrated on economic repair up to now. Now is time for an equal emphasis on social repair." I believe that is key. Two thirds of the heavy lifting in terms of the adjustment was money taken out of services of all kinds with one third on the tax side. This side needs building back up. The demographics are rising; thankfully people are living longer. Patching up responses - without disrespect to the people trying to do it - have left huge pent-up and unmet needs. That will come back to haunt us if we do not address it, putting it straight up to the Oireachtas. In the past two weeks, the Minister, Deputy Howlin, has said that there have been pressure points that have built up, which is true. I do not see a better area than the area covering disability, mental health and chronic illness to focus on, and this goes right across the life cycle from children to older people. We could have an impact with the little bit of spare money that will be available next year. If that is not done, it will be more of a squandering rather than having a strong impact.