Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I commend my colleague Deputy Ó Caoláin on bringing forward this motion on behalf of Sinn Féin. For two decades Deputy Ó Caoláin has been a tireless voice in this House for people badly let down by our health services, and he continues that work in this motion.

In my own area of east Cork, more than 14,500 people recorded themselves as having a disability in 2011. This number has undoubtedly grown, as has the national figure by 13.5% up to 2016. People who have a disability represent a large constituency of people in this State. This constituency is even greater when their families and the communities who support them are taken into account. They are calling for proper recognition of their rights and their ability to fight to ensure they are guaranteed at the highest level.

I have said on a number of occasions that the gesture of ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, UNCRPD, must be backed up by the implementation of policy and legislation which is in the script and spirit of the convention. It is a very important part of any international agreement that those who do not receive proper treatment by a state that has signed up to it must have recourse on an international level. The Government appears to believe that the optional protocol is not necessary, but without an appeal mechanism the rights protected by the convention can only be relied on in Ireland at the will of a Government. Without consistent back-up to an international appeals process the rights laid down in the convention become privileges. This is at odds with the spirit of the UNCRPD and the notion of human rights on this level. There can be no claim to equal treatment of those with disabilities if their ability to hold the Government to account is less than it is for others. This is particularly important to me as mental health spokesperson for Sinn Féin. People in this State with mental ill health have been let down repeatedly from the days of institutionalisation to date where patients are denied the right to a say in their care on a statutory basis. Without the protocol allowing for appeals to the UN, an Irish Government can sit on its hands or drag its feet on the necessary reforms of rights of mental health patients.

I ask the House to support this motion.

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