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

Budget 2018 was an opportunity for the Government and Fianna Fáil to make a real difference in the lives of those who are living with a disability in Ireland. Priority should have been given to increasing disability incomes to help move disabled people out of poverty. It should have been about increasing personal assistant hours, so vital for the independence of those living with a disability. It should have been about taking some pressure off carers and providing adequate respite services. It should have been about accessibility - access to education, transport, employment and appropriate housing, but it was not about any of those things. Government policy continues to ignore the needs and rights of those with disabilities.

The Government is, of course, spinning this budget in as positive a light as it can. I accept and welcome the €5 increase to disability allowance but this will not come into effect until March. There is absolutely no reason people depending on social welfare should be forced to wait six months, until the end of March 2018, for this additional relief.

I welcome the funding allocated for the decision support service, as required for the ratification of the long-awaited UNCRPD. I sincerely hope that this will speed up the ratification process, although I would not hold my breath. I take this opportunity to remind the Government that the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice and Equality is waiting on its Committee Stage amendments to the Disability (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill. I hope these will present in the very near future.

It is hard to imagine the frustration and disappointment felt following yesterday’s budget announcement by those tireless disability campaigners, the families of those affected by a disability and, most importantly, those living with a disability. Year in, year out they campaign vigorously for additional support services. They struggle and strive in order to be treated as equals in this country. They are plamásed on a continual basis being told that significant investment has been made and will be made, but the litany of promises continues to be broken. The funding provided by the Government is a tiny drop in the ocean given the level of investment that is required to ensure that real equality is achieved.

I heard reports in the run-up to the budget suggesting that the Minister of State with responsibility for disabilities issues, Deputy Finian McGrath, was threatening to vacate his position in protest at the Government’s failure to properly reflect the needs of people with disabilities in budget 2018. What did he get to persuade him to stay in place? Was there even less provided for people with disabilities up to the time of his protest? I can see nothing in what was announced here yesterday that would have brought him in from the cold.

Sinn Féin has been listening to people with disabilities and that is what we all need to do. Each year we put forward proposals as part of our costed alternative budget that would make a huge difference in their lives and those of their families. Our proposals reflect the fact that Sinn Féin demands equality for people with disabilities. We assert that it is possible to improve the lives of all who live with a disability; it is simply a matter of priorities and choices. In this House and this institution we need to show greater collective intent in putting people with disabilities front and centre in our considerations, if not in budget 2018, then most certainly in budget 2019. The commitment for that needs to be made now.

The Government decided to invest €5 million in a communications unit for itself. What would that translate into? It would translate into very important measures of support that would help the most vulnerable in society. Ba chóir go mbeadh náire air.

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