John Halligan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Minister of State on his appointment and wish him well. Last week, international media, particularly in the United States, watched in bewilderment as the possibility emerged of emergency legislation being drafted in this country to allow five Garth Brooks concerts to proceed in Croke Park. The singer was apparently up in arms that 400,000 ticket holders are going to be let down but he refused to discriminate against 160,000 of those fans by holding three concerts. The number of disabled people in this country who are being let down and discriminated against on an all too regular basis stands at almost 600,000, enough to fill Croke Park seven times over. While some of this discrimination is beyond the Government's control, a huge amount of it is actually its own doing. The recent withdrawal of almost €1.2 million in funding from 25 disability and care focused groups has been widely acknowledged as decimating the sector. Core services and supports have been consistently hacked away by the current administration. Many families living with disability tell me that dignity and independence is a thing of the past and that they are struggling to get by on a day-to-day basis. Support organisations such as Chronic Pain Ireland report that they can barely last until the end of the year unless the cuts are reversed. It is a terrible indictment that such organisations might go to the wall. It is unthinkable that we would allow services like Chronic Pain Ireland to be destroyed.

The impact of these cuts is not felt in isolation. They have a huge knock-on effect on the family of the person with a disability. I refer not only to the grotesque cuts to services, but also the devastating and disproportionate impact that sweeping taxes and charges are having on the disabled, a case in point being the upcoming water charges. In recent days I was approached by a family who expressed serious concern about how the water needs of their two disabled children will be calculated as part of the families' overall water bill. These children, like many people with disabilities, have greater sanitation and laundry requirements. This family is one of the hundreds of cases Deputies are encountering. People do not know what to do as yet another horrendous burden is placed on people with disabilities and their families.

The 2011 census painted a stark picture of the place in our society in which many disabled people are just existing. For example, among disabled people aged 15 to 49, one in six has completed no higher than primary level education, with one quarter of disabled people getting as far as second level education. Naturally, this disadvantage extends into the workplace, as people with a disability are less than half as likely to be active in the labour market and are more likely to experience workplace discrimination, according the Equality Authority. Research by that organisation indicates only 36% of people with a disability are active in the labour force. Ireland's employment rate of people with disabilities is notably lower than the European average, despite the issue being brought to the attention of successive Governments. The danger is a reinforcement of a perception that people with disabilities are a burden on the State, although in my experience, the opposite is true. Most disabled people I have met strive for independence and equality and want nothing more than to make a meaningful contribution to society. They need to be supported in this.

As my colleagues noted earlier, the UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva discussed some serious breaches of human rights in our society. We speak of this time after time but we still have not ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The commitments contained in that document have often been made by Irish politicians and all too easily they are neglected. Deputy Finian McGrath's motion would go a significant way towards promoting, protecting and strengthening the human rights of all persons with disabilities in this country. I, along with many others present, have read the motion. Support groups and many people throughout the country have indicated it is a reasonably worded motion and Deputy Finian McGrath has put much effort and thought into it. He has had a barrister examine it, for example. I urge the Members opposite, even at this late stage, to support it.

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