Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, and the Government for making time available in this House to discuss disability issues in the context of the implementation of the national disability strategy. It is important that Members have interactions across the House on such issues regularly. In the past, there have been highly successful debates on the issue of mental health, in which Members have shared and exchanged ideas on reform and the ways forward and this also is true in respect of the area of disability.

This debate is timely and comes in a week in which parents of autistic children rightly have been outraged, hurt, upset and insulted by ignorant and ill-informed comments in an article that appeared in the national media, of which I am sure many Members are aware, and which effectively attempted to blame parents for making their children autistic. I have never heard such nonsense. Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion but this sort of sensational comment, made in an effort to engage in self-promotion and nothing else, does irrefutable damage to the years of work undertaken by parents, carers and advocacy groups to try to achieve recognition in the first instance and, second, support and resources for their children with conditions on the autistic spectrum. I hope Members on all sides of the House will join with me in echoing these comments to enable the Oireachtas to send out a strong message that Members stand firmly behind the families of autistic children in distancing themselves from those sensational and ill-informed comments.

This debate comes at a time in which many people with disabilities are under severe pressure due to the economic situation of the country, and many Members have commented in this regard. I have absolutely no doubt but that money can be saved in the disability sector, just as it can be saved in all other sectors. There is, however, an onus on the Oireachtas and on the Government to find such savings in a way that does not affect the person with the disability. The present Government, its predecessors and the State as a whole have been lacking in this regard. In other words, Members must advance the reform agenda, that is, an agenda which empowers people with disabilities, which directs money to those who actually need it and that reduces and removes the costly bureaucratic challenges that people with disabilities face.

The programme for Government espouses in clear terms this reforming agenda, as I am sure did the manifesto of each political party and of each individual Member of the House. The Dáil is no doubt united in its desire to bring about positive reforms in this area but to be frank, for far too long people with a disability have heard such platitudes in promise after promise and in words not matched by actions. This is not a political point but simply is a reality for many people living with a disability and is something for which everyone who has been involved in political life must accept a degree of responsibility.

In any debate on disability services, it also is important to note that funding and hard cash are not a solution in themselves for disability services in Ireland. That is not to state they are not very important but without proper reforms, such funding is failing to make the impact it could. More crucially, issues regarding the rights of people with disability and their dignity as full citizens of this State require cultural and policy changes, as opposed simply to money. If funding alone was the problem, surely the years of economic boom would have addressed the many challenges that remain for people with a disability in Ireland. I saw this in my constituency of Wicklow, where I established a support and lobby group for families living with autism during the boom years. Although there was no shortage of money, the queues for the access to services still existed, the problem with diagnosis still existed and the lack of educational supports continued. While it is absolutely valid for all Members to point out problems arising from any cutbacks introduced by the present Government or any other, it is important to conduct the debate on disability in the context of being aware and informed that the issue is not simply about funding and that a greater shift must also occur.

I acknowledge some positive developments that have been undertaken by the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, and by the Government to date. For example, the Minister of State's commitment to dusting down and re-engaging with the national disability strategy is most welcome. The programme was launched in 2004 and given both the lack of progress in implementing it to date and the changed times in which we live, a revised and realistic plan for its implementation is most welcome. In particular, the direct involvement of people with disabilities in working on this plan is an extremely positive development, for which the Minister of State deserves much praise. I am glad the Minister of State is taking steps to ensure the service users themselves are involved in discussions on disability policy. For too long, representatives of groups and organisations working in the sector have been accepted as speaking for all people with disabilities. Such people have a voice themselves that must be heard and I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, for bringing that voice to the table. The publication of the new mental capacity Bill, which is expected in this Dáil session, will be widely welcomed. It is deeply insulting that the interactions between vulnerable people and the judicial system still are governed by the appallingly titled Lunacy Act dating back to 1798. All Members are aware that not only is the terminology used by the current legislation highly insulting to those who fall under its remit but it is wholly unfit for purpose. The enactment of this legislation is also one of the key outstanding requirements before the State can ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. I am sure the Minister will do everything possible to expedite this as it must happen as quickly as possible. There is, however, no point in me focusing on the positives because many challenges exist that I wish to highlight in the time available to me and of which the Minister of State is aware.

Almost 75% of money spent on disabilities is paid directly to service providers instead of to the end-users of the service. This is insulting and I ask Members to consider what other group of people would be told that while money was being allocated to them, they would not be allowed to decide how to spend it and that it would be given to a third party. People with disabilities still are consumers and still are citizens and must be able to choose which services they want to avail of, what training best suits their needs or what residential accommodation they prefer. Giving service users control over the way their money is spent also would ensure the State supports programmes for which there is a demand among people with disabilities and would make a huge difference in this area. Equally important is the need to ensure appropriate standards are followed in all areas of this sector. Deputy Buttimer referred to the 9,000 people with disabilities who live in residential care but the Minister of State is aware that at present, no statutory independent inspection of these services is in place. I acknowledge the Minister of State has prioritised this issue, which is a matter of huge concern to many. The programme for Government includes a specific commitment to put these standards on a statutory footing and to ensure such inspections take place and this cannot happen soon enough.

I wish to make a conceptual contribution to this debate, which is that people must desist from using the broad term, "disability", as something into which one fits and which is one's label in that one is a disabled person or a person with a disability. One must begin to consider the individuals behind this label and, with this in mind, I note statistics show that two thirds of young adults with a disability want to work. The Government must act on this desire and give such people the tools and supports they need to enter the workforce. This needs to be a life-long commitment and requires a two-fold approach. First, one must ensure children with disabilities are able to avail of all the early-interventional services and educational supports they need to fulfil their potential. I do not have the time and this is not the appropriate place to enter the debate on special needs assistants but their role and the criteria behind them must be examined to ensure this resource is being put to work effectively for children with special needs. Second, the additional range of supports that people with disabilities require to enter the workforce must be put in place. I refer to supports such as appropriate training, incentives and job support mechanisms.

In my experience, people with disabilities do not want a social welfare cheque thrown at them. During my short time in this House, however, all the debates appear to have centred on questions such as what level of disability allowance is being paid or what is the level of the domiciliary care allowance. Members must consider how to empower people and must move beyond this. The recent budget demonstrated a lack of understanding on the part of the entire House, as a political institution, in this regard and this must be addressed. Consideration must be given to supporting those with a disability who cannot work. However, as for those with a disability who yearn to work, I note the State is not allowing them or facilitating them to so do. The reality is many people with disabilities are caught in a poverty trap, which cannot be addressed simply by increasing or reducing social welfare levels. In Ireland, people with disabilities are two and a half times more likely than the general population to live in poverty. This makes workplace supports to help people with disabilities access the jobs market all the more important.

I will revert to an issue I raised last week with the Minister for Social Protection regarding domiciliary care allowance. I believe the Minister of State was in the Chamber at the time. While the Minister responded to me with a comprehensive reply, I must reiterate there is a real issue in this regard. Something is going on at official level or otherwise within the Department of Social Protection. Somewhere in some office, someone has decided to make it more difficult for families of children living on the autistic spectrum to access a domiciliary care allowance. Literally hundreds of people have contacted my office since I raise this issue. They are not making it up and are not imagining it. Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition, not a medical one, and it is quite difficult to fit that criterion of the domiciliary care allowance application form. I ask the Minister of State to examine this issue because this level of support for families of young children with autism is of huge importance.

I will conclude by voicing my deep concern that there is a growing hardening towards, and a lack of understanding of, the complex issues faced by people with disabilities and their families. I referred earlier to a recent article about autism. What was outlined therein is not the only indication of the shift in attitudes that has occurred. A survey on people's attitudes to disability which was carried out by the National Disability Authority contains some extremely worrying responses. For example, 20% of respondents indicated that they would object if a child with an intellectual disability was placed in their child's class. The figure in this regard in 2006 was just 8%. We could ask whether this attitude relates to the scarcity of resources and the impact of the recession, and the answer is that it could quite possibly be the case. However, concerns regarding monetary issues have nothing to do with the fact that two out of three people are of the view that those with intellectual disabilities should not be allowed to have children. The latter has nothing to do with cutbacks, SNAs, resources, etc., but is, rather, a cultural attitude which obtains. The numbers in this regard are rising and we must inquire as to what is going on. That is what I mean when I say that this matter relates to much more than funding. There is a need to engage in a cultural debate.

The numbers to which I refer are truly shocking. They highlight the pressing need for the Government to encourage informed debate in respect of disability issues. I hope this debate - to which the Minister of State referred as a sounding board - will not be a one-off event and will instead mark the beginning of an ongoing engagement. I again thank the Chair for the opportunity to contribute.

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