Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:"recognises the Government’s commitments to people with a disability in the Programme for Government, including greater participation in employment, training and education with a revitalised National Disability Strategy;

notes the considerable efforts to reform existing legislation to bring it into line with international standards and good practice;

welcomes the total commitment of €1.5 billion this year on health and personal social services for people with disabilities;

acknowledges that the Government has honoured its commitment to maintain the rates of core weekly social welfare payments to recipients, including people with disabilities;

notes the position of the Ombudsman with regard to the legal status of the mobility allowance and the motorised transport grant;

acknowledges the Government’s commitment to:

— finding a solution to the issues identified, involving representatives of people with disabilities, relevant Government Departments and agencies; and

— protecting the €10.6 million allocated to the schemes, which will be reinvested in total in solutions to address priority mobility and the transport needs of people with disabilities;

supports the commitment to maintaining personal assistant services for people with disabilities this year at a level consistent to that provided in 2012 and the additional funding of €4 million to help address the service needs of school leavers in 2013;

welcomes the recent publication of the National Implementation Framework for the Value for Money and Policy Review of Disability Services, which provides an overarching framework for the implementation of recommendations to ultimately move to individualised funding for disability services, in order to provide greater choice and control for people with disabilities; and

notes the Government’s commitment to introduce National Standards for Residential Centres for People with Disabilities in 2013."

The HSE national service plan for 2013 reflects the priorities of the Government and the significant programme of reform being undertaken, in the context of significant funding challenges. It is timely to remind the House of the significant levels of specialist services provided for people with disabilities. Personally I believe we have moved away from language such as "disabled". The Government provides funding of €1.5 billion to the disability services programme. We are committed to protecting front-line services, and the HSE is seeking to maximise the provision of services within available resources. In 2013 the following specialist services will be provided: residential services to more than 9,000 people; day services to more than 22,000 people; respite residential support for more than 7,500 people; and 1.68 million hours of personal assistant and home support hours.

A total of 700 school leavers will require services in 2013, and this will continue to present a challenge. Last year the HSE and the voluntary service providers rose to meet this challenge without additional funding and I would like to acknowledge the efforts they made in this regard. Organisations such as St. Michael's House stepped up to the plate to provide a service with no additional funding. For years previously, significant additional funding was provided but it was used on a year by year basis with no substantial sustainable service being put in place to meet future needs. This is the challenge for all of us. In 2013 an additional €4 million has been allocated to provide training places and day services for school leavers. This is outside of the €1.5 billion funding referred to.

A major commitment in the programme for Government is to ensure we get the best outcome for people with disabilities from the resources we put into the health sector. I recently published the national implementation framework for the value for money and policy review of disability services. The review recommends a significant restructuring through migration towards a model of person-centred, individually chosen supports and implementation of a more effective method of assessing need, allocating resources and monitoring resource use. Choice and control will therefore shift to where it rightfully belongs, with the individual and his or her family.

The Government recognises the importance of strengthening cross-sectoral collaboration with regard to disability. In the case of children with disabilities, responsibility spans a number of Government Departments, including Health, Education and Skills and Children and Youth Affairs. It is vital these Departments co-operate on a regular basis to ensure their services are as integrated as possible and targeted to the areas of greatest need. A dedicated cross-sectoral team, comprising representatives from these three Departments and the Health Service Executive, plays a key role in this regard. These Departments are collaborating on children's disability issues, including autism.

Many organisations provide excellent support and interventions for children with a disability and their families. However, they have developed independently and were often established to serve one specific group of children only, resulting in a wide variation in the services available. I take very much on board what Deputy Catherine Murphy said. Some areas have very good services while other areas have quite poor services. We can speak about this later.

To increase the level of consistency and standardisation in the way early intervention services and services for school-aged children with disabilities are delivered, the HSE is engaged in a reconfiguration of existing therapy resources. This aims to achieve a unified approach which will result in a clear pathway for all children to the services they need regardless of where they live, what school they go to or the nature of their disability or developmental delay. While the programme supports the principle of providing access to mainstream education, it also recognises the continuing role of special schools. Significant progress has been made since the programme was established in 2010.

The Government and I are committed to ensuring vulnerable people with disabilities in residential services are safeguarded and protected, and that their quality of life is enhanced. The programme for Government includes a specific commitment to put these standards on a statutory footing and ensure the services are inspected by HIQA. I expect the standards will be approved and published in the coming weeks. Work on the regulations required to bring the standards into law is under way while further discussions are taking place on the resources and staffing required by HIQA from 2013 onwards. It is anticipated that the new registration and inspection regime will commence in the third quarter of this year.

The HSE's report, Time to Move on from Congregated Settings, proposes a new model of support where people will move to housing in ordinary communities, provided mainly by housing authorities. They will have the same entitlement to mainstream community health and social services as any other citizen, along with specialised and hospital services based on an individual assessment, to help them to live independently as part of their local community. The HSE also supports a number of initiatives throughout the country to expedite moving people from institutions. The not-for-profit organisation Genio supports the move of up to 170 people to more appropriate settings through projects which commenced in 2011 and 2012.

The Department, together with the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, has developed a housing strategy for people with disabilities. We are working closely together to ensure that at a strategic level those who are currently in institutional or congregated settings will be eligible to be assessed for access to appropriate housing. The joint departmental approach aims to develop proposals on how a housing strategy can contribute to the implementation of a deinstitutionalisation programme, in parallel with the planned implementation of the congregated settings report. In 2013 initial funding of €1 million was given to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government to support progress on the transitioning programme. The funding has been ringfenced to meet the housing needs of people leaving institutions in 2013 and will enable housing authorities to provide up to 150 new homes in the community for people with disabilities.

The Government is very conscious of the needs of people with a disability who require mobility and transport supports, and we are also conscious of the position of the Ombudsman on equality issues regarding the mobility allowance and the motorised transport grant schemes. A special review group has been established to seek an alternative method to provide for the needs of people in a manner that does not run counter to equality legislation. The initial phase of the group's work will concentrate on issues regarding the mobility allowance and the motorised transport grant. The results of the review will be presented to the Government before any final decisions are made on future arrangements. The payment of mobility allowance will continue for a period of four months for existing recipients and the funding of €10.6 million remains committed to meeting the priority transport needs of people with a disability.

In so far as such supports are concerned, the primary focus in budget 2013, as it was in budget 2012, is to maintain the level of weekly primary social welfare payments. Expenditure on social welfare payments and services reached approximately €20.8 billion in 2012 and expenditure in 2013 is expected to be approximately €20.26 billion. Maintaining rates for all core weekly payments represents a real achievement and demonstrates the Government's commitment to protecting those who are most in need of the support of the Department of Social Protection, including in particular people with disabilities. The Government's commitment to supporting people with disabilities is also reflected in measures which enable those who are able to secure employment to participate in the labour market. The partial capacity benefit scheme was introduced in 2012 and recognises that some claimants can be facilitated in taking up employment opportunities while continuing to receive income support from the State. In addition, with the support of the European Social Fund, the Department is investing more than €7 million under the disability activation project between now and 2015.

Some 14 separate projects are being funded within the Border, midlands and west region, which aim to create enhanced linkages between employers and people with disabilities, and which will better enable the untapped potential of people with disabilities to flourish.

On coming into office, this Government made a firm commitment in the programme for national recovery to introduce a mental capacity Bill that is in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The enactment of new capacity legislation is one of the core elements of the remaining work to be completed before we can ratify the convention. Consultations on reform of the law in this area were initiated by the Law Reform Commission which published its report on vulnerable adults and the law in 2006. The report's recommendations informed to a great extent the scheme of the mental capacity Bill as published in 2008.

Work is being completed to properly align the provisions of the Bill with the principles contained in the UN convention on supporting people with impaired capacity in making decisions and exercising their basic rights. The amended title of the Bill, the assisted decision-making (capacity) Bill, which I think everyone will agree is a much better title, reflects this approach. The guiding principles in the Bill reflect convention principles of respecting the dignity and autonomy of each individual person, including the presumption of capacity unless the contrary is established, and the freedom to make his or her own choices. Drafting of the Bill is being finalised with a view to meeting the commitment in the Government legislation programme which indicates that the Bill is expected to be published in the current session.

The intention is that the assisted decision-making (capacity) Bill will specifically support the right of all persons to equal recognition before the law, as set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Bill will reform the law in respect of adults who are vulnerable in that they lack some or all mental capacity to make important decisions for themselves. It will also provide a legal framework to support such persons in fully exercising their decision-making capacity. It will modernise the law on capacity and bring Irish capacity legislation into line with current thinking and modern legislative frameworks worldwide.

The Bill proposes replacement of the wards of court system with a modern statutory framework to support persons with impaired decision-making ability. The wards of court system is regarded as unsuited to modern conditions and incapable of coping with projected demographic growth and increased need for the management of the affairs of persons who lack capacity. The terminology and concepts used in the existing legislation of 1871 are inappropriate to the modern understanding of mental illness and capacity.

The national disability strategy was launched in September 2004 and its implementation continues to be the focus of Government policy for the sector. However, a specific implementation plan for the strategy had not previously been developed. The Government is now addressing this. I have established and I am chairing a national disability strategy group to develop an implementation plan for progressing the national disability strategy in line with the commitment in the programme for Government. This new group maintains the cross-departmental focus and is also strong on collaboration with stakeholders.

Deputy Finian McGrath said that we should listen to people with disabilities, and we are doing so. We are listening to them at the centre of Government. Discussions are ongoing between the disability stakeholders group, DSG, and Departments in an effort to reach agreement on the suite of actions contained in the plan. I am pleased to inform the House that one of the main aims of the implementation plan is engagement with the disability sector and building on the traditional problem-solving and constructive approach of the community and voluntary sector to make progress to achieve our common interests.

More targeted, innovative and flexible services, designed and delivered on the basis of the evidence drawn from systematic evaluation, will help to ensure available resources are used to deliver services that meet the needs of the community as efficiently and effectively as possible. A broad representation of disability organisations and individuals is included on the national disability strategy interdepartmental group, NDSIG. It also includes a representative from the National Disability Authority, NDA. While acknowledging the current economic climate and diminished resources available across Government, the implementation plan will seek to ensure available resources are used to best effect in ensuring living standards and access to essential services for people with disabilities are maintained.

As an additional means of engagement, I set up a disability forum under the stewardship of the NDA which will operate in a similar manner to the social inclusion forum. It has the specific aim of engagement with individuals as opposed to organisations. People whose lived experience of dealing day to day with disability, either as a person with a disability or a carer for some one with a disability, can be taken on board. In this manner, the voices of people who might be overlooked in a more formal structure are heard and considered.

The first meeting of the disability forum was held in June 2012 and the views expressed at that meeting form part of the considerations of the NDSIG in relation to actions in the implementation plan. The NDA is helping Departments in setting performance indicators and outcomes for the plan's targets. These targets give firm commitments throughout the wide range of Departments, agencies and local government. These targets are tied into timelines and monitored for success or blockages. Where there are blockages, these can be identified early and whatever new approach is required can be put in place. The NDSIG process is also identifying actions which will be required to ensure Ireland will be in compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities when ratification takes place.

We are not just listening but are also deeply committed to mainstreaming. If people want to be part of society, and we should insist they are, then we should give them all the supports we can. We should get away from the segregated thinking that has gone on. We need to listen to people with disabilities, not just organisations and those who purport to represent them.

As regards the lady who wrote to Deputy Finian McGrath, I have never claimed to speak on behalf of people with disabilities. I would not dare to do that. I simply listen and, I hope, put in place policies and actions to ensure their voices are heard in their own right and not through anyone else.

See this speech in context