Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am thankful for the opportunity to speak to this very important motion. I wish the new Minister of State well and congratulate him on his new portfolio. I thank all the Deputies who contributed to this very important two-day debate on disability matters. It is important to keep this issue on the political agenda and we have a long way to go to ensure all our citizens can be treated equally with respect and dignity. I thank my colleagues in the Technical Group for their great support, dedication and commitment on this issue.

We either believe in equality or we do not. We either support inclusion or we do not. There can be no buts or ifs with this matter. In responding to the Government, we must focus on a number of key priorities, as some must be dealt with tonight, tomorrow or the immediate days afterwards. Many of my colleagues raised the issue of €1.2 million in funding which has been lost to the 26 disability organisations before the commencement of the summer recess in the Oireachtas this week. There were 26 bodies which saw their funding through a scheme to support national organisations, run by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, revoked on 30 June. As we heard last night, the Minister of State with responsibility for the implementation of the national disability strategy, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, confirmed she had not been advised on this development. That is not good enough.

I was interested to hear the Minister of State speak about equality and full and equal rights. This is a smokescreen, as the Government is in charge. It should stop cutting services to people with a disability. The Minister of State has said we can discuss these matters tomorrow but that is not good enough.

If the Minister of State believes in inclusion he will stop these cuts tomorrow. Listening to some of the speakers on the Government side last night one would think everything was hunky-dory in the disability sector. Some of their contributions astounded me.

To put it in context, I received a letter this morning from a person with a disability. He thanked us for the motion but said that the budget cuts to the disability sector which this Government has enforced since 2011 have effectively set the sector back 100 years. He said lives are on the edge when a person with a serious debilitating illness can get only one hour of personal assistant help a week. That says a lot about this Government. There are many other such letters too.

We need to focus on the real issues for people with a disability. There was an average cut of 4.1% in disability allowance, invalidity pension and carer's allowance in 2011. There was a 19% cut to the respite care grant in 2013. There have been changes in eligibility for a community child care subvention scheme. There is a growing waiting list for personal assistant hours while 1,308 of our citizens need personal assistant hours. This is the real world. There are 27,256 people with intellectual disabilities. There are 197 people who need a day service now. That is a small figure that could be dealt with in one simple budgetary measure. There are also 2,271 people looking for residential services. There are 2,054 who need residential support services for the first time.

I call on the Minister of State and the Government to ensure that all people with a disability are guaranteed a service as a right. I demand an end to cuts to front-line services. I also request the appointment of a senior Minister with dedicated responsibility for disability inclusion. We need to prioritise funding of disability services and pursue the implementation of agreed measures, targets and timelines. In 2011, the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste spoke on "Prime Time" before the election and promised that disability was their priority issue. I call on the Government to implement that plan, stop the waffle and talk, and support people with disabilities. They are have rights. They are our citizens and I urge all Deputies from all parties to support this motion.

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