Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

An estimated 750,000 people in Ireland have a disability of one form or another. That amounts to 18.5% of the population. In numerical terms that constitutes a significant section of Irish society. However, in spite of that, successive Governments have paid only scant attention to the needs and rights of disabled adults and children. The end result is that people with a disability are more likely to be living in poverty, to be unemployed and to be dependent on State benefits. They are also more likely to be highly reliant on public services especially for health, housing and public transport. All in all, people with a disability are more likely to be excluded from Irish society, or at risk of such exclusion.

However, to suggest that such a situation came about through mere indifference is to ignore the impact of policies enacted by successive Governments on the lives of disabled people. Therefore, with this important caveat to the forefront of the current discussion, Sinn Féin supports this Private Members' business, but it does so reluctantly. I say that because Sinn Féin is of the view that people with a disability should be automatically entitled to participate fully in all areas of Irish life. More important, we believe that the State has a duty and a responsibility to ensure that all necessary resources are put in place to ensure that is the case.

Successive Fianna Fáil-led Governments have repeatedly and cold-heartedly implemented policies that make a nonsense of tonight's Private Members' business. While in power, Fianna Fáil presided over the slow but deliberate dismantling of the welfare state. As we know only too well, that had a disproportionate impact on people and children with disabilities who are almost totally dependent on the State for the provision of key services. There is a huge degree of hypocrisy and opportunism in the fact that the very same party, namely Fianna Fáil, that is responsible for pushing people with a disability to the margins of society, is proposing tonight's Private Members' business as if its hands were clean and its conscience were clear.

The current Fine Gael and Labour Government has not only failed to implement a national housing strategy and a comprehensive employment strategy for people with disabilities, it has also failed to ensure that all public policy measures are disability-proofed. Lest we forget, when Fianna Fáil was in government it too failed miserably in all of those key areas. On all of the key indicators - access to decent health care, decent education at primary, secondary and third level, meaningful employment, and suitable and adequate housing, differently-abled people are discriminated against by policies enacted by the Government, but also by successive Fianna Fáil-led Governments. People with disabilities deserve to be, and should be, treated as equal citizens when it comes to accessing life chances. They should not, as has been the case with the current Fine Gael and Labour Government and successive Fianna Fáil-led Governments be seen as a soft option when it comes to slashing vital services in order to save money to pay off private bondholders and support zombie banks. Unfortunately, the political landscape is littered with countless examples of where people with disabilities have had their real and pressing needs ignored in the interest of rescuing foreign speculators and dead financial institutions. In a mature and politically sophisticated state all those with a disability, be they adults or children, would be guaranteed the necessary services and resources required to live a life with dignity and purpose. That would mean ensuring people received as a right adequate benefits and that the public services on which they depended were adequately resourced and of a high standard. Such supports are imperative if people with disabilities are to be enabled to live full and autonomous lives. In other words, we must support self-determination of people with disabilities by building their capacity and that of their families.

Sinn Féin supports this Private Members' business, but it does so reluctantly. Disabled people are not pawns in a game of political cat and mouse. They are human beings who deserve to have their rights as citizens fully vindicated. Sinn Féin will continue to speak out in favour of that and to oppose all cuts to services and benefits which impact negatively on them.

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