Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Like Deputy Maloney I too look forward to a time when rates, in terms of payments, can be restored to people with disabilities and people generally, including those unemployed and so on.

I commend the Minister of State, Deputy Lynch, with whom I have attended meetings with disability groups, on her commitment to tackling disability, which commitment is recognised by all the groups involved. There is no split between them in their conversations in relation to the Minister of State. We are fortunate to have a Minister of State who commands the respect of those with whom she engages.

Having worked in a school for people with physical disabilities, I come to this debate with a great deal of experience of dealing with disability. I have witnessed the difficulties under which parents of children with disabilities and the children operate.

There is no doubt many disabled people and their parents operate in an heroic way in overcoming their difficulties. As a society we could do more to help people in this situation and I praise our local authority in south Dublin which makes a particular effort to include many people with a diverse range of disabilities in its staff. This is not sufficiently taken up by business throughout the country.

Part of the reason we are discussing this is because two elements of the disability allowance, namely, the means-tested mobility allowance and the motorised transport grant, have been declared illegal. It may be controversial to say so, but where money is short it is better that younger people rather than older people are prioritised. I am moving into the older category myself, but younger people have more of their lives in front of them. I hope we will be able to come up with a legally accepted system. As a general principle, younger people should take priority over older people.

It is well worth noting that the Government provides a wide range of services to people with disabilities, including residential services to 9,000 people, day services to 22,000 people, respite residential support for 7,500 people and 1.68 million personal assistance and home support hours. The cuts to disability funding which have been made during the recession are very difficult and should always be a cause of concern for us.

We know the cuts to the mobility allowance and the motorised transport grant were made because they were seen to be illegal under the Equal Status Act. These payments will continue to be made to those already in receipt of them until the end of June as the Government devises an alternative legal method to meet people's needs. I hope we succeed in coming up with something satisfactory. I welcome the fact the Government has already established a review group to examine the entire area and come up with recommendations by the end of May. It is also important to stress the Government has committed that the €10.6 million spend on the mobility allowance and motorised transport grant will be spent on the solution identified by the review group.

The Government has also taken other positive steps in the drive to provide a better quality of life for people with mental and physical disabilities. I commend in particular the commitment to publish in the coming weeks the assisted decision-making (capacity) Bill. This legislation is long overdue and will help to remedy a set of laws on mental illness and impairment which belong to the Victorian era. It will safeguard the rights of those who are unable to make decisions for themselves and provide a framework for assisted decisions. This is very welcome and long overdue. I also welcome the moves under way to begin HIQA inspections of residential homes for people with disabilities. It has troubled me these were not included in the initial list of places which HIQA had a mandate to inspect given the vulnerability of this group of people. I have no doubt HIQA will do a very thorough job in inspecting these residential homes.

Last night I heard Deputy Ó Cuív speak on this subject. I have no doubt he, like the rest of us, has real concern and empathy for people with disabilities, but it is very difficult to listen to comments from Fianna Fáil given the huge problem they put on the shoulders of the Irish people, most particularly by accepting the huge debt from Anglo Irish Bank and the like. This is what really makes it so difficult for us to deal with the issues we are faced with today.

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