Eamonn Maloney (Dublin South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I take the opportunity to congratulate formally the Minister of State, Deputy Ó Ríordáin, and I wish him well in his new role.

I thank those who tabled the motion for discussion. It is quite appropriate that the voice of the disabled - there are many - is heard in this House. That is why I welcome discussion of this nature irrespective of the side of the House it comes from. None of us has a monopoly of care or love regarding those against whom nature has discriminated. It would be an error on our part and it would be to our shame that this Parliament would not come back to the subject on as many occasions as it possibly can in order that not only can we defend the gains that have been made for people who are disabled - I do not like the word - but in better financial circumstances the quality of life is extended and made better for people who fall into that category of being disabled.

I want to avoid going back over territory that was dealt with earlier in the debate. All of us, irrespective of the constituency we are in, have to pay tribute not only to the people who work full time for remuneration but also to those who volunteer and participate with disability groups and give their time freely, in some cases, as was acknowledged yesterday, a considerable amount of their time. These include people who do not have immediate family members who, unfortunately, have a disability of some nature. These are people who just volunteer. This is one of the great things that shows the decency of Irish people.

I know that one cannot get away from the media thing. Sometimes one has to reflect on the light that has been shone on Irish society in the past and maybe somewhat on the present. We have the report published today on those young people. If we go back a few weeks, there is another report and another report. One sometimes gets disillusioned and asks what sort of society and State operated given the scandals over how we treated our children, mothers and babies, child abuse, and clerical child abuse. At the time we had the debate in the House about clerical sexual abuse, I heard a woman on the radio say she was ashamed about her nationality with all this stuff coming out. It is frightening and embarrassing for a generation of people, but it is good that the whole thing is opened up and out there, irrespective of how we might feel about it.

I know the church takes a bit of stick, and rightly so. I have not been behind the door in giving it some stick over its control and monopoly of Irish society for too long. Those politicians who went before us were not the bravest either and they turned a blind eye to what happened. It is not simply a matter of punching at the church and pointing out what it did wrong. People like to use the word "State". I prefer to use the word "politicians" because - let us cut out the nonsense - they looked the other way unfortunately and that is where we are.

There has been no monopoly in terms of predecessors to the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, in terms of trying to protect the funding. Fair play to Deputy Neville for referring to the former Minister of State, Mr. John Moloney. If someone in another party takes a positive and useful initiative, it deserves to be acknowledged, and that is a good thing. In difficult times it is very important to protect what funding is there for people who, unfortunately, fall into this category. In better times as things improve, discussions should take place in this House to give a better quality of life to those against whom nature has discriminated.

I remember going, as many Irish emigrants did, to Hyde Park in London. There were many Irish accents there and it was a great place to turn up for someone interested in current affairs and politics. I remember an advocate, a volunteer, with a very strong Scottish accent getting on the platform. He used to turn up every Saturday. He always concluded his contribution by saying: "We are all disabled; it is just that some are more disabled." That is the reality of it. Some are more disabled. It is for those who are elected to this House on all sides to work for a better quality of living for the people who fall into this category.

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