Colm Keaveney (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

To repeat what I understand, the compatibility of what we are trying to achieve is to take giant steps towards signing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The spirit in which the amendment is tabled is provided for in this charter. I hope the Minister of State agrees this is how we see it. We should not get lost in translation on the amendment or the spirit in which the Minister State is trying to achieve it. I refer the Minister of State to a pretty comprehensive statement from the United Nations special rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, which clearly sets out concerns about locked institutions, people being tied up with restraints, solitary confinement, the forcible injection of drugs and over medication. We could go on and on. In terms of the incremental step we need to take here today, this is one piece of legislation we need to pass as promptly as possible.

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