Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)

I thank you, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, for the opportunity to speak on this new and important legislation, the Citizens Information Bill, whose purpose is to improve services for people with disabilities. Before going into the details of the legislation, let me first outline the reality facing many families of those with disabilities. We have a long way to go and I will point out some of the cases that exist in this country.

St. Michael's House has the largest waiting list for residential care nationally. There are 296 people awaiting residential places for 2006 and over 74% of these people live on the north side of Dublin. To reduce the waiting list they need 70 places per year. It is not a great figure and any progressive government could deliver on this.

Regarding the ages of parents of St. Michael's House service users living at home in 2006, 42 service users' parents are between 21 and 30 years of age, 199 are between 31 and 40 years of age, 408 are between 41 and 50 years of age, 284 are between 51 and 60 years of age, 283 are between 61 and 70 years of age, 181 are between 71 and 80 years of age and 51 are between 81 and 90 of age.

I suggest the Government target the most needy first. I am struck by some of these figures especially those relating to families with parents between 81 and 90 years of age and between 71 and 80 years of age. Any progressive Government, any radical Minister for Health and Children and any sensible Minister for Finance would use the budget to address these figures.

My daughter uses the secondary service in St. Michael's House. The figures for residential places show that in 1993 the Government gave 16 places and by 2006 it gave 17 places. There is something radically wrong with that. In 2000 and 2001, 70 and 71 places, respectively, were allocated to St. Michael's House and these are the figures we should implement in this year's budget.

The figure for residential waiting lists nationally is 1,893, within which is the St. Michael's House figure of 296. We must be sensible and target resources and the implementation of policy to deal with older parents who have children with intellectual disabilities on waiting lists.

I commend St. Michael's House on some of the excellent projects it has, particularly taking adults with intellectual disabilities out of institutions and placing them in quality care homes. I know many of these projects and have many friends who use facilities where five or six adults with intellectual disabilities share a lovely four or five bedroom house under the care of St. Michael's House. This is far superior to locking those people in institutions.

I also commend St. Michael's House on the work it has done on St. Mary's Hospital and Special Residential School, Baldoyle. The facility was handed over for €100 and is now worth approximately €30 million on the property market. There are radical new ideas there relating to adults with autism and other intellectual disabilities and we should support them in these services.

I have a special interest in intellectual disabilities, but there are also many bright, articulate and talented people with physical disabilities in our communities who, with a little support, want to make a contribution to society. I met a 21 year old man with a physical disability at my clinic in my constituency and he had a fantastic mind, excellent IT skills and a great interest in current affairs, particularly foreign affairs. He is the type of young man who should be sought by the Civil Service, possibly the Department of Foreign Affairs. There is a need for young people with an interest in foreign affairs and human rights. I urge the various Departments to work hard to break the 3% threshold.

I commend the likes of Dublin City Council. When I was a city councillor in 1999 the aim was to have 3% of the workforce comprised of people with disabilities. Within 12 months this figure reached 4.3%. That represents a couple of hundred people out of a couple of thousand and they are making a massive contribution. Dublin City Council has shown a very inclusive approach and is making a contribution to broader society. These are sensible solutions on which we are working.

The budget of two years ago was progressive on the funding of people with disabilities but we must continue with the issue. We must not give money to the wealthy in society in the coming budget. If there is money to be spread around it should go to the Department of Social and Family Affairs and towards disability issues. Good luck to those with two houses and two cars, but they should not be top of the pile when it comes to funding in this budget.

The Citizens Information Bill is a key element in improving services for people with disabilities. The combination of this Bill, the Disability Act 2005 and the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 is intended to convey clearly the Government's intention to have an effective combination of legislation, policies, institutions and services in place to support and reinforce equal access for people with disabilities. I think every Member of this House will support the ethos and vision of this section of the legislation.

The purpose of the Bill is to amend the Comhairle Act 2000 to confer enhanced and additional functions on Comhairle involving, inter alia, the introduction of a personal advocacy service specifically aimed at people with disabilities. This Bill also seeks to change the name of the statutory body to the citizens information board, to make certain changes to the term of office and membership of the board and provide for related matters.

Sections 1 and 2 provide for definitions and terms used in the Bill, including disability, social service, chief appeals officer and voluntary body. The definition of disability used is that contained in section 2 of the Disability Act 2005 and other definitions are included in relevant sections as appropriate.

Section 5 provides for the details of the personal advocacy service, including the provision of a personal advocacy service to qualifying persons by personal advocates who are designated as such by the chief executive of the citizen's information board. There are many strong advocates for the disabled, particularly groups like Down Syndrome Ireland, of which I am a member, the Disability Federation of Ireland and Inclusion Ireland. There are many people who have made a major contribution and I urge the Government to listen to these advocates because they are a strong voice that we could use regarding this legislation.

We should seriously consider prioritising certain aspects of the budget for 2007. Achieving the full inclusion of people with disabilities in Irish life must continue to be a priority for the Government. Inclusion Ireland, which I support, calls on the Government to show its commitment to people with disabilities by putting in place the resources required to clear the backlog of demand for services and income supports. The positive economic forecast for 2007 shows resources are available to the Government. Commitments to people with disabilities have also been made in the new social partnership agreement, Towards 2016.

I also appeal to the leadership of the trade union movement to focus on the issue of disability. Towards 2016 includes a strong section addressing the inclusion of people with disabilities and I appeal to all trade union members, from the leadership to the average member, to push the disability issue because it is an important human rights issue.

We in Ireland are often very good at discussing human rights as they pertain to other countries, and rightly so, but we must also ensure we address the issue as it relates to our own citizens. We must remind ourselves that these are the brothers, sisters, parents and children of people who pay their taxes every week.

The Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004, the Disability Act 2005 and the national disability strategy impose significant obligations on Departments and public bodies to work to ensure a fairer deal for people with disabilities who have been excluded from our economic success story. No longer should the question be one of ensuring an equal distribution of resources, we must go one step further. A progressive, sensible Government would ensure that people with disabilities not only receive their fair share of the cake but are involved in running the bakery. I commend the many talented people with disabilities and their advocates.

I have a series of priorities for 2007, the first of which is to review current funding arrangements and end waiting lists for services for people with intellectual disability. This year 1,906 people require a residential service, while 1,877 others require a respite service. Residential and respite services must be provided to high standards. Even in the past week, I have met families who receive fewer respite care hours than other families because they are considered to be stronger. They also need support and time to themselves, particularly the parents of adults with autism, because they care for their son or daughter most of the time. This is a difficult task at times, as I am aware from direct experience. We must, therefore, ensure respite services are available to all families caring for people with disabilities.

Inclusion Ireland has called for an independent audit of the national intellectual disability database, NIDD, in previous budget submissions. The NIDD cannot be an effective planning tool unless it is consistently monitored and the information collected is related to the needs of the individuals in question. The 2005 report of the Comptroller and Auditor General on the provision of disability services by non-profit organisations shows that nearly 90% of all intellectual disability services and 50% of physical and sensory disability services are provided by this sector at a cost in 2004 of almost €1 billion. Addressing the Committee of Public Accounts on 29 June 2006, the Comptroller and Auditor General stated:

At an early stage it became clear that although national databases had been developed to inform future needs and research, they were of limited value in assisting in the planning and managing of disability services. However, they showed that there were significant unmet needs.... Tackling this need requires a more holistic approach to planning the provision of services and greater integration of services procured from the voluntary sector into national plans.

The urgent need for voluntary organisations, private sector entities and statutory authorities to co-operate closely has been evident in recent days and will be highlighted again during the debate on the Leas Cross nursing home report in Private Member's business tonight.

The Competition Authority, in its submission to the Department of Health and Children on the strategic review of disability services, highlighted that there is little incentive under current funding arrangements to allow for greater competition in this area, thus leading potentially to more innovative services. I call on the Department to undertake an immediate review of current arrangements for funding services for people with an intellectual disability. This must include publication of the Department's strategic review of disability services, the ring-fencing of money for new residential services and a separate allocation of funding, to be specified, for those already availing of services whose needs have significantly changed or who are in substandard services. There is no excuse for substandard services. All funding for new places should be linked to each individual's assessment of need and identified by a pin number listed on the NIDD and a separate fund should be available for the emergency cases that arise every year.

I say to the Minister for Finance that a sum of €100 million plus €55 million capital will be required to start this investment programme in 2007, with a commitment to a similar level of resources for each of the following years. As matters stand, the €900 million overall funding package announced as part of the national disability strategy for the period from 2006 to 2009 will not solve the problem of residential services. A portion of this money should be used to encourage innovative service arrangements to enable people to live independently in their own communities and receive supports in their own homes if that is their preferred choice. I encourage people to examine the sensible idea of offering people a choice. If an elderly parent of an adult with an intellectual disability wishes to remain at home, there is no reason he or she should be placed in residential care. A sensible Minister with a creative mind would ensure the necessary supports were provided at home to people in this position.

My second priority for 2007 is to increase the number of respite places in the community for children and adults over a three-year period. A specified number of these places should be ring-fenced for children and adults with significant disabilities and challenging behaviour. A sum of €5 million should also be allocated to facilitate pilot schemes to develop alternatives to centre based residential respite places.

My third priority is to complete the programme to transfer people with intellectual disabilities who are inappropriately placed in psychiatric hospitals. The number of people listed in the national intellectual disability database as requiring a specific intellectual disability placement is such that there is no excuse for further delay in ending this situation. The health strategy, Quality and Fairness — A Health System for You, published in 2001 designated 2006 as a date for completion of the transfer programme to the community. The transfer of people to nursing homes in the absence of national standards and inspections should not be an option, however. A sum of €25 million and a further €25 million in capital funding should be ring-fenced for this purpose in 2007. Standards and inspections, another prominent issue in recent days, are also needed.

My fourth priority concerns income and will require ending the means testing of the carer's allowance, the extension of the full disability allowance to people living in institutions and the introduction of a disability payment of €40 per week, initially for people currently in receipt of means tested social welfare payments. The cost of removing the means test for the carer's allowance would be in the region of €150 million per annum, while the introduction of a full disability allowance for those in residential institutions would cost approximately €1.5 million. The introduction of a disability payment would cost a further €160 million. I have supplied figures to cost the sensible solutions I have proposed to address the issues of disability.

It is important that we do not overlook young teenagers in second level education who need support. This problem has arisen in my constituency in the past 12 months. Unlike some famous, private, fee-paying schools which appear to bang the doors shut on people with intellectual disabilities, a number of creative second level schools in north Dublin and elsewhere in the city have opened their doors to young children with intellectual and physical disabilities. These schools need support. It is not acceptable, for example, to have one learning support teacher in place for 500 pupils.

While I commend the Minister for Education and Science on investing significant resources to address the needs of children with disabilities in the primary sector, we must also wake up to problems in second level education. It is a scandal that proper services are not available to many young teenagers in secondary education. It is not acceptable that some young citizens, the children of taxpayers, have no access to services. I commend the schools that have the vision and courage to admit children with disabilities and do their best for them at a time when other schools are locking them out. If this process continues, we will have a two-tier education system in which the poorest and weakest children attend certain schools, while the brightest and most affluent attend other schools. This type of apartheid in the education system is unacceptable.

As a parent and strong advocate of people with disabilities, I urge the proper implementation of the Bill and demand, as a matter of right, proper services and support for all those with disabilities.

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