Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to support this simple Bill, which will resolve a problem for children with Down's syndrome and meets the concerns of parents. The use of the phrase "equality of access" in the Title says it all. It will not cost a fortune and the figure suggested is less than €1 million. We can contrast that with the cost of pensions for former taoisigh, Ministers, Presidents and judges, which amounted to €15 million in 2012. A sum of €1 million is all that is needed to help these children who need to access the education system.

I am not surprised by the Government's position. It will allow the Bill to pass Second Stage, but the Minister of State said the Minister was awaiting the model that will be proposed by the NCSE and I am a little cynical about this. Members have attended meetings with parents of these children in the audiovisual room. They have been canvassing for years not just to have Down's syndrome recognised as a complex low-incidence disorder but to right the wrong whereby it was taken off that list. They have been fighting ever since to restore it to the list to get the necessary resource hours. That must be recognised, and the Bill provides for Down's syndrome to be restored to the list. If the NCSE's new model for allocating resources houses is based on disability rather than assessment and so on, the inclusion of Down's syndrome on the list will put it in the reckoning as a complex low-incidence disorder. It is crucial that the Bill be enacted quickly in order that those who need resource hours now, next week, the week after or next year, get them. We should not spend another six months discussing how to change the model and allocate resources.

Resourcing is the key issue because, far from protecting the most vulnerable, which surely includes children with intellectual disabilities, the Government has systematically targeted them. The cumulative annual reduction in the disability allowance amounts to €847 since 2008, while there has been a 15% reduction in resource teaching hours since 2011, 1,900 children are awaiting an assessment by primary care occupational therapists and 763 children must wait six months or more for an assessment of need. That is outrageous in the context of our so-called Republic and giving fair access to education to all. The Government's strategy is to cut spending by making it more difficult to access payments and supports. The preoccupation with diagnostic tests to determine access to services and supports means a return to the former medical model of disability, the exclusion of people with disabilities and a straightforward denial of the right to independent living. Families are forced to pay for expensive medical assessments in the private sector because of the waiting lists for assessment in the public system. It emerged recently that more resources are invested in children with disabilities in wealthier areas, which is outrageous. This is a political issue, contrary to what many Government backbenchers said.

I congratulate Deputy McGrath on introducing the legislation, which should be enacted as soon as possible rather than waiting for something else to be put in place down the line.

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