Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom comhghairdeas a dhéanamh leis an Teachta Finian McGrath agus gabhaim buíochas leis ar son an obair a dhein sé i gcóir an Gnó Príomháideach seo. Aithníom, chomh maith, an obair a dhein sé thar na blianta ar son lucht míchumais. Credit is due to Deputy Finian McGrath for this Private Members' motion. There is a need for recognition of him as being a voice for those with disabilities, both in his time on Dublin City Council and also in the Dáil.

One of the most shameful moments that I experienced in my few years here was some months ago when persons with disabilities, in their wheelchairs, including some past pupils of mine from St. Mary's Baldoyle, took part in a protest outside the Dáil. It was an overnight protest to highlight their situation and the implications of the threatened cuts. I must ask what kind of society are we that any consideration or any thought would go to making life more difficult for those with disabilities. We know we are living in challenging times but those challenges are really compounded for those with disabilities. They have so many additional challenges and those challenges extend to their families and their loved ones.

My first point is that we do not define a person by the disability and we must be careful when we discuss disability. There is such a wide range of areas, covering physical, mental, intellectual, environmental, social and medical. We only see the word as an umbrella term for impairments, activity limitations or participation restrictions. It is vital that we look at the person rather than the disability and equally vital that somebody with a disability is not precluded from taking as full and active a role in society as is possible.

It has been a bad time, particularly recently, for those with disabilities, both mental and physical. It comes from those additional stresses and strains caused by insensitive and, I believe, immoral and unethical, measures taken with regard to personal assistant hours, home help hours, mobility allowance, etc. On purely economic terms, the supports provided by families and carers are much less than if the person was in full-time nursing care and the cost of providing support for persons with disabilities in order that they can be cared for at home in so far as is practicable is minimal in comparison.

Recently I spoke on a Topical Issue matter. The Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, was not able to take it but another Minister did. I quoted UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Mr. Juan Méndez, when looking at abuses in healthcare settings, within the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. He made the point that community living, with support, is no longer a favourable policy development but an international recognised right. In that regard, there are implications for us as a society.

On mental health, Mr. Méndez, in his report, called for the revision of legal provisions which currently permit detention on mental health grounds in mental health facilities and allow coercive interventions and treatments in those settings without the free and informed consent of the person concerned. The Minister of State and I both remember the late Mr. John McCarthy when it comes to these kind of issues. The report also calls for a ban on forced or non-consensual medical interventions for persons with a disability, such as electric-shock treatment, mind-altering drugs, restraint and solitary confinement. In the reply to the matter I raised the Minister of State indicated the report was being looked at.

When it comes to decision-making, as Amnesty International set out in a submission, the ability to make decisions is something that most of us take for granted but there are those whose ability to make decisions is taken from them. There is our archaic wards-of-court system, the Lunacy Regulation Act 1871 and the Electoral Act 1992. No doubt there is discrimination against disability, in particular, those with mental health issues and intellectual disabilities, and that is in our legislation. Those with mental health issues and intellectual disabilities have their decision-making capacity compromised in areas of finance, banking, healthcare, social welfare, education and family law, and in practically every other area where decision-making is required. It is time that we as a country mainstreams decision-making in all legislation as a human right guaranteed to everyone and not the particular few. We must prioritise bringing in that capacity legislation in line with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as per the programme for Government so that there would be a system of supported decision-making that upholds the autonomy of everyone.

The motion calls on the Government to treat all citizens in a fair and equitable manner. I spoke at the opening of the Constitutional Convention and I want to reiterate a point I made there regarding the areas not covered under the remit of the eight sessions of the convention. One of those is protecting the rights of persons with disabilities.

I hope that will be a priority area for the Constitutional Convention at the end when the eight are discussed and it can make recommendations.

We know the effect of the cuts and the austerity measures on the healthy population and it is far worse for those with a disability. In a civilised and humane society, people with disabilities should be sacrosanct when it comes to budgets. Their lives should not be made any worse, in particular in those weeks coming up to the budget when they have the added strain of kite flying about what might be cut for them, which is immoral. The cutbacks take no account of those aspects of the person's quality of life. For example, a person with a physical disability has greater needs for home heating than an able-bodied person who has mobility and can move around and keep himself or herself warm. Dublin City Council is waiting for funding from the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government which it will use for adaptations to homes for people with a disability. A lady in Dublin Central, who is an amputee, is in her third year of waiting for an adaptation. The toilet and shower are upstairs in a three storey house. The stairs were built in such a way that they cannot accommodate a chair lift. That she has been waiting for three years is simply wrong and is an example of a person with a disability not being treated fairly.

Deputy Finian McGrath's motion recognises work of the voluntary organisations which have seen their budgets cut by as much as 25%. If they are under severe financial pressure, it will impact on the services they are providing for people with disabilities. St. Michael's House provides services for those with intellectual disabilities. Despite the moratorium on recruitment, the budget cuts and the reduction in staff numbers, all of which are having considerable impact, those at St. Michael's House have continued to expand and develop the services provided there. Those staff are coping with an increase in the number of people who use their day services and receive residential services. Great credit is due to the staff at St Michael's House in respect of the way they continue to deliver high quality services. The major challenge for them now is that St. Michael's House has the largest waiting list for residential care in the country. Disturbingly, 240 of the parents who have sons and daughters with an intellectual disability are over 70 years of age and more than half of them are facing very serious difficulties.

The motion states "according to Census 2011, 13% of the population is coping with a disability". Those are manageable numbers that could be dealt with. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities states that countries must remove the barriers that prevent participation and inclusion in society. Cuts to funding for those with disabilities are creating further barriers. The capacity legislation needs to be enacted to ensure the rights of people with disabilities are protected and there is a need to update.

As part of Ireland's Presidency of the European Union Council and membership of the UN Human Rights Council, Irish Aid should promote and ensure the rights of people with disabilities in developing countries also, particularly in times of environmental crisis and civil unrest. The motion basically calls on the Government to keep the promises it made in the programme for Government for people with disabilities.

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