Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Minister, Deputy McEntee, whom I always found to be extremely fair in her previous role. I wish her the best and look forward to working with her. I am delighted that we have a young woman as Minister for Justice and Equality. I also offer congratulations to the Minister of State, Deputy McConalogue.

My contribution will focus on the human rights and equality aspects of this, particularly the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Despite our having passed this convention, we have not ratified the optional protocol which allows people with a disability to take a complaint to the UN about their rights. By not ratifying this optional protocol, we are failing people with a disability. Unfortunately, the previous Government and, it would seem already, the new Government are failing people with a disability.

In recent weeks, calls have been made to reopen adult day services, closed due to the Covid pandemic, yet we have no date for when that might happen. People who have a disability or family members or others who advocate on their behalf constantly describe it as a battle. They have to battle for a diagnosis, for the various therapies needed, for a school place, for transport to that school, for an adult day service and for transport for that service. For carers it is a constant battle for any sort of support, particularly relating to respite. In many areas respite is non-existent. My constituency is an example of that; with respite closed for five years. These are all extremely serious and important issues. I hope the new Government will do something about this, take it on board and not just pay lip service to it.

Do the Estimates include money to ensure the optional protocol will be ratified? Can we get a timeframe? Last year, we were told it would not be ratified in 2019 but would be ratified in 2020. Here we are in July with the year slipping by. People will talk about Covid, but it cannot be an excuse for everything. We need a timeframe for when this will be ratified. If the Government is serious about ensuring that people with disabilities, their families and their carers are respected and given the services they need, it would have no difficulty in ratifying this protocol because it empowers people. The Government should be trying to empower people by saying it has nothing to hide and that it wants people to have the right to take a case against it if they feel they have a need to do so. I share the fear of many people in the sector that this protocol has not been ratified to date because I imagine there would be an enormous number of cases taken given all the failings in the sector. Will the money be provided this year to ensure the optional protocol is ratified?

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