Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing time with Deputy Carol Nolan. Táim sásta an deis a fháil labhairt ar an mBille tábhachtach seo. The principal aim of the Disability (Miscellaneous Provisions Bill) 2016 is to reform national law to enable Ireland to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Sinn Féin welcomes any progress that is made towards the full ratification of the long awaited UNCRPD and we will therefore support this Bill’s passage to Committee Stage.

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This important convention seeks to protect and promote the rights of people with disabilities. The rights set out in the convention are rights that all people have as people, regardless of physical or mental status.

As mentioned time and again, it is to Ireland’s shame that it has taken this long to address the legal and administrative steps that provide for the convention’s full ratification. Ten long years to be exact. We must all now ensure that the pieces of legislation required to ratify this convention are progressed as a matter of urgency.

It is my opinion that successive Governments have been far too slow to act on very important issues. One important cohort of people that springs to mind are the thousands of children with disabilities who are in receipt of the domiciliary care allowance but who have been unable to secure medical cards. The Minister will be well familiar with this issue. A commitment was made by Government in Budget 2017 that an automatic medical card would be issued to all those children but this has still not happened. This must not drag on any longer. Sinn Féin produced legislation on this need and entitlement that could be introduced immediately if the Minister had, and I say so respectfully, the political will to do so and the support within Cabinet to progress it. These children cannot and should not have to wait any longer and I encourage this matter to be addressed as a matter of urgency.

Sinn Féin welcomes any progress made to move from a medical to a rights based approach to the provision of mental health and disability services. We welcome for example the fact that this Bill amends the Juries Act 1976 so that a person who is deaf shall not be ineligible for jury service by reason only of his or her requiring the services of a sign language interpreter. Let us hope, that in the coming months another positive step will be taken with the final passage of the Recognition of Irish Sign Language for the Deaf Community Bill 2016. It is, however, a great worry to me to note that many civil society organisations working in the area of disability have real concerns about this Bill including real questions about whether this legislation would be fully compliant with the UNCRPD. A critical aspect when formulating legislation is engagement with NGOs and those who are directly affected by the proposed legislation. It is unfortunate, disappointing, and in my mind, bad practice, that no public consultation on these matters has taken place.

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