Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the amendment to the motion and to confirm to the House the extent of the Government's commitment to people with disabilities. It is a pillar of Government policy that people with disabilities should be empowered by policy and programmes to participate meaningfully as citizens in Irish society. The national disability strategy is driven by this basic, but fundamental, objective. The Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, outlined in her speech last night the extent to which the strategy is being revitalised, with a new implementation group which she is personally chairing, to draw up implementable actions across a range of Departments. These actions will, when finalised, range across all areas of concern to people with disabilities in their daily lives, not just the extensive supports and services which are provided by the health sector to which so many Members made reference, but also in the areas of access and housing, transport, training and employment opportunities and other areas.

The disability forum, convened under the national disability strategy, was vital in informing the implementation group of the needs and preferences of people with disabilities, their carers and family members. The first meeting of the forum on 19 June this year was attended by more than 300 people and a report on the views expressed will be published shortly, and considered for actions in the implementation plan for the national disability strategy. I am confident that the strategy will be significantly re-energised and re-focussed under the guidance of the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch.

The Value for Money and Policy Review of Disability Services, published by the Department of Health in July, has also confirmed what people with disabilities have been telling us for some time. Public consultation processes were carried out by the expert reference group which reviewed disability policy under the review. In response, people with disabilities and their families told us what they thought of the services currently provided under the HSE disability service programme, and what they wanted for the future. Not surprisingly, they told us they did not want more of the same and they told us they want to do normal things in normal places, in other words to participate in society on the same basis as every other citizen. The Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, has stated this on many occasions. It is clear that our services, as currently configured, are not yet fully geared to meet the everyday needs of people with disabilities themselves as articulated by them. As a first step, my Department and the Health Service Executive will be working closely to ensure that the value for money review is implemented, with these aims in mind.

I commend the major commitment of the many people in the Health Service Executive, and in the HSE-funded agencies, who are delivering services to people with disabilities every day and are doing so in a very challenging financial environment. However, I know they also share the Government's view that we need to change our approach to one that is geared towards the needs of people with disabilities in the first instance. This is not always the case at present and the value for money review points out that more efficient and effective ways can be found to deliver services which will be more accountable and more directly relevant, and which can make better use of the available resources as mentioned by many Members during the course of this debate. In particular, the individualised model of supports recommended in the review will, as it is developed further in the coming years, contribute to the greater participation of people with disabilities in the social, economic and cultural lives of their communities, and provide them with access to a range of personal social supports and services to enhance their quality of life and well-being.

I again point to the many areas across Government where services are provided to people with disabilities, not just in the health sector but also through extensive education and training supports. New developments in the area of housing and employment activation show that the Government is pushing out the boundaries even further to enable people to participate more fully in society. The funding provided to programmes outside of the health budget, in addition to the annual €1.4 billion investment by the HSE, enables people with disabilities to avail of an extensive range of financial supports and services. The challenge for all of us will be to ensure that this funding is used to better effect in the future and that it is directed to the needs of the individual in the first instance.

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