Mr. Gary Lee:

I thank the committee for the invite this morning. I wish to associate the Disability Federation of Ireland with the comments of the previous speakers from the other organisations. I will follow on from what Dr. McCarthy said. It is imperative that community-based supports serving 95% of people with a disability are recognised as essential services. The list must be sector-specific and be respectful of the needs of people with disabilities. The majority of people with a disability would identify measures such as respite, personal assistance hours or community programmes as essential services. The importance of community based services is clear when we see the first-hand impact it can have on service users. Some examples were given and there are more examples in our submission to the committee.

It is crucial to recognise that voluntary organisations are businesses. To function they must have an open dialogue with the State, in particular, the Department of Health and the HSE, that can be facilitated through the establishment of the forum, as recommended in the independent review group report. We need contracts that are fit for purpose and specific to the services we provide. Voluntary organisations must be provided with the opportunity to plan for the future through multi-annual budgeting. To allow for equity across the sector, the services that benefit all people with disabilities must be recognised as essential.

We recognise that the disability voluntary sector has issues that must be tackled and the implementation of the recommendations in the report will be a challenge to both the sector and the State. However, it is of paramount importance that action is taken and that real change occurs in the relationship between the State and the voluntary sector. A healthy working relationship stands only to better the lives of service users.

The independent review group report was an evidence-based report. The committee was chaired by Catherine Day, as we know. It is February since the report was issued. Yet, we have not seen any progress on the report in that time. Our concern is that it will be shelved. It cannot be shelved. The State needs the voluntary sector. The voluntary sector provides essential services to people the State should be providing services to. From our experience, the relationship between the State and the voluntary disability sector is broken. I echo the comments of previous speakers on that point. Something needs to be done about it.