Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Níl ach dhá nóiméad agam so ba mhaith liom a rá go dtugaim mo thacaíocht 100% don rún seo. Is rún thar a bheith praiticiúil é agus cuireann sé béim ar na rudaí atá tábhachtach agus atá ag teastáil go géar.

I have very little time but I want to use the minute I have left to support the motion and thank Sinn Féin. It is a very practical motion which puts our focus where it should be, namely, implementing what should be available.

I want to thank the Minister of State for ratifying the convention. It took over ten years, but I am sure he had a primary role in it. However, the failure to sign the protocol is absolutely deplorable. The message we are sending out is that we are giving people rights but not quite yet and we will give them on a piecemeal basis, bit by bit, when it suits us. We never look at changing language. We need to realise that if we treat people with respect and enable them rather than disempower them we will save the economy money.

I will finish by referring to Galway. The motion refers to many things, including respite. We are not complaining. A senior social work in Ability West said there is in place an extensive waiting list for all forms of respite for service users, including adults and children. There were two letters from a social worker in the Brothers of Charity, one in August and another in November, appealing to Deputies - I happened to be the person on this occasion - that there was an urgent need for funding for children's respite services. The social worker went on to say that two houses were available, one on a full-time basis but the other only part-time. I could go on, but I do not have the time. I am not here to argue, but rather to say that we should enforce rights and enable people with disabilities to live and participate in Ireland. Let us stop the hypocrisy and the cur i gcéill.

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