Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Alex White, for being present for the debate. I commend Fianna Fáil for tabling the motion because it affords Members on all sides of the House who are united in our desire to improve disability services with an opportunity to have an honest debate, which is important. It greatly angers people with disabilities when the debate is reduced to one about social welfare cheques. There is no doubt that social welfare payments such as domiciliary care allowance, disability allowance and carer’s allowance are vital to many people. All too often the culture and viewpoint in this House and often in broader society is that the State writes the cheque, hands it to the person with a disability and it is a case of job done, social conscience eased; we have done our bit. We must stop talking about people with disabilities as charity cases. I accept the payments are vital as financial assistance is needed but it is a rights agenda and a programme of reform on which we must focus.

I have a relative with special educational needs who was born and grew up in this country at a time of economic boom. When Fianna Fáil was in government disability services were well funded. We also have that aim. However, my relative could not access many of the services he needed. People with disabilities will explain that even when the country was flush with money - when it was thrown around like confetti - there was still an issue with disability services. The point is that we do not have the luxury of throwing more money at services, nor do people with disabilities want that to be done; they want us to listen and to pursue and progress a rights-based agenda that recognises that the needs of people with disabilities go above and beyond a weekly or monthly social welfare payment.

On the need for a more joined-up approach, I welcome the fact that we have a Minister of State with responsibility for disability but I find it astonishing that the Minister of State is not assigned to some Departments that are relevant to the area of disability. It is a whole-of-government issue that concerns the Departments of Education and Skills, Justice and Equality, Health, Children and Youth Affairs, Social Protection, Transport, Tourism and Sport, and Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, yet the Minister of State with responsibility for disability, whoever he or she is – it is not a personal comment - all too often is not linked into the Departments as well as he or she should be. That is a matter we must examine. We could have all the strategies we want but when political decisions are made in particular in the area of access to education, jobs and enterprise, the Minister of State with responsibility for disability must be heard.

Deputy Nash alluded to the disgraceful incident of people with disabilities feeling they had to camp overnight outside Government Buildings on the proposed changes to personal assistance. That should never have arisen. The matter was handled very badly. There is no doubt that it was wrong, but what was interesting and the potential good that emerged is that when I was on my local radio talking to a man who had camped outside he said that he knew the status quo could not continue and that there would have to be changes and reform. He said that the Government should talk to them and that they could show where the savings could be made. That is the problem; there have been blunt cuts by all parties in government in recent years rather than an examination of how to reform the services.

I welcome the policy review on the domiciliary care allowance, which at present is not fit-for-purpose. Families with children on the autistic spectrum cannot access it. That is not due to some inherent cruelty in the Department but because the application form does not work. The criteria must be examined. We must look at the transition from domiciliary care allowance, DCA, to disability allowance, DA. For example, should a 16-year old with high functioning autism in full-time education have to sign off the DCA and go onto the DA or should they stay on the DCA until they leave the school system? Is our SNA scheme fit-for-purpose? It is about care needs. One of the criteria in the job description for an SNA is cleaning the classroom and photocopying. We must examine whether we need a teaching assistant and if we could learn from other countries in Europe. I spoke to the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn, about that at the Joint Committee on Education and Social Protection.

We must also examine capacity legislation. The Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, is working on the mental capacity legislation. We must plan better for school leavers with intellectual disabilities. The big rush that has been happening every summer in recent years – the funding situation has made it worse – to find places is unacceptable. We must move to a system of personalised budgets and examine the type of place a person wants and give him or her the dignity to choose the place rather than assigning the money to a service provider and having people with disabilities and their family running around trying to find a place for the sake of it.

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