Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The debate on this Bill is extremely important. The digest that has been produced to accompany this legislation confirms that approximately 600,000 people in this country, or 13% of the population, have a disability. The exact figure depends on the definition of "disability" that is used. The figure is much higher if a broader definition is used. The digest continues:

Of people aged 15 and over with a disability, 21% were at work. This compares to 50% for the overall population aged 15 and over.

Those figures are damning. The system is set up to disable people who have a disability all the more. When we passed the universal declaration in Galway a long time ago - I think it was in 2002, which is 15 years ago - we tried to change the language to facilitate universal design. The mantra at the time - it was more than a mantra - was "good design enables and bad design disables". The exact same point can be made in the context of the Government's failure to introduce legislation to empower people, which is what the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities sets out to achieve. I do not need to preach to the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, because he is fully aware that the UN convention represents a paradigm shift from the medical model to a rights-based approach under the social model. This involves a move away from regarding people with disabilities as people who require assistance due to their impairments to regarding them as holders of rights who are entitled to social integration under the social model.

The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has welcomed the general approach to promotion, protection and monitoring that is signalled in the Bill before the House. It is a reflection on us and an indictment of the political system that in 2017, well into the 21st century, we are still arguing about what should and should not be contained in legislation of this nature. Ireland started off on a very good footing in this respect ten years ago when it was one of the first countries to sign the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. I want to pay tribute to the various civil groups, including the Centre for Disability Law and Policy in Galway and the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, that were instrumental in shaping the language of the convention. Our record since then has been appalling, however. While I accept the bona fides of the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, and acknowledge his experience in this area, I agree substantially with what my colleague, Deputy Boyd Barrett, has said about this Bill.

There is absolutely no legal impediment preventing the Government from signing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on behalf of Ireland. I suggest it has been decided as a matter of policy not to sign it. When we sign it, a greater level of responsibility will be placed on our shoulders to do things we have not done, such as the rolling out of facilities and the championing of the word "equality". I am inclined to agree with Deputy Boyd Barrett that we should ratify the convention now. We signed it ten years ago. There is absolutely nothing to stop us ratifying it, other than that it would leave us open to exposure before UN committees for our failure to bring in the appropriate legislation. I am not referring solely to this legislation. For example, the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 has yet to be fully enforced. To a certain extent, we are playing a game here. There is a certain amount of cur i gcéill and hypocrisy i gceist here because we do not wish to be exposed. I suggest that our exposure as a country would be a small price to pay for the much more important forcing of the situation that would come from ratifying the convention.

Some aspects of this Bill are welcome. Clearly, it is welcome that deafness will not be a barrier to serving on a jury. I welcome the removal of archaic language, particularly in respect of people of unsound mind. I am pleased that the quota that applies to the Garda is being extended to the civilian side. While there are some positive provisions in the Bill, I have serious concerns about how it is progressing. My concerns are one thing, but the concerns of the Centre for Disability Law and Policy in Galway, which has substantial experience in this area, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, Inclusion Ireland and various other civil groups are much more important. My voice and the other voices in here are simply speaking on behalf of organisations that have accepted the bona fides of each Government with which they have worked, only to find themselves now looking at a Bill from which significant segments have been omitted. I refer, for example, to the need to introduce legislation pertaining to the deprivation of liberty. I am aware from my previous life in the law area of the shocking gap that exists. We have protections for people with mental illnesses going into psychiatric hospitals, protections for prisoners and - theoretically - protections for children being taken into care. However, we have absolutely no protections for people with disabilities or older people with Alzheimer's disease going into nursing homes or other institutions. There is a complete gap in our law in such areas. We have compounded that by leaving it out of this Bill. I understand it will be introduced on Committee Stage, along with other sections.

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