Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Yes, perfect. Thank you, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle. Here is what we know. Since before Covid-19 arrived in Ireland, people with disabilities have experienced higher rates of discrimination than people without disabilities. That discrimination is more likely to occur and be more serious. People with disabilities are more than three times likelier to experience poverty and deprivation than people without disabilities. Ireland has the lowest employment rate for people with disabilities in the EU. People with disabilities are less likely to attend further education. An estimated 1,300 plus people with disabilities under 65 are being inappropriately accommodated in nursing homes. I say "estimated" because the HSE has not been able to provide me with the actual figures yet. It took Ireland over ten years to ratify the UNCPRD, and the Government still has not ratified the optional protocol. Carers and voluntary organisations do incredible work out of love and dedication and receive very little assistance for filling a gap that the State should have filled and can fill. Disability health and support services were already underfunded, and were due to be cut by a further €20 million earlier this year by the then Government. I could go on. The work of bodies such as the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, Inclusion Ireland, and the Disability Federation of Ireland let us all know how disgracefully people with disabilities and their families are treated by the State.

It is fair to say that the group most profoundly impacted by the pandemic is people with disabilities. That is on top of all the existing issues I mentioned, and now Covid-19 and the Government’s response have added considerably more challenges. Day services have been closed for months in many cases and some are still closed, leading to regression, isolation and distress for people as well as additional hardship and a lack of respite for their families and carers. As in other sectors, contacts between services and people moved online in some cases. However, Inclusion Ireland research shows that many people with disabilities cannot use or do not have access to IT equipment. There are increased rates of anxiety and loneliness. The nearly 3,000 people with disabilities residing in settings of ten or more people have been put at unnecessary risk by the State during the pandemic due to their living arrangements. School and college students with disabilities have additional needs that were not adequately addressed by the online systems. Many people with disabilities who work in hospitality and other industries either lost their jobs or cannot attend work due to health concerns, which affects not only their income but their independence and personal dignity. Disability services staff, medical therapists and dentists are among those who have been redeployed to contact tracing, which has seriously affected the capacity of the State to provide essential services. Furthermore, for workers in this sector, the inequalities between section 39 and section 38 organisations have been highlighted, with section 38 employees being eligible for Covid sick pay while section 39 employees are not.

This is the cumulative reality for people with disabilities in Ireland. Before Covid people faced innumerable hurdles which have been magnified during the pandemic. Our challenge and our job is to immediately respond to these issues. This sector needs the resources to ensure a range of supports is provided to enable everyone to live dignified, independent lives. The impact of Covid continues to resonate for people with disabilities. Here is just a snapshot of issues I have been contacted about in the past week. A young man who cannot access speech and language therapy in west Cork has to travel almost two hours to the city, including stops because he cannot be in a confined space for too long, to get 30 minutes of vital therapy. People in west Cork need to be able to access therapeutic services locally. It is completely unreasonable and, to be honest, outrageous to expect people to travel two hours for 30 minutes with a speech and language therapist. An occupational therapist highlighted the chronic lack of hoists and other supports without depending on the physical strength of family members or carers, which in any case is not advisable. As a result, one family is unable to travel more than 20 minutes from home due to toiletry needs. With the easing of restrictions during the summer, the rest of us could travel around but families like this one remained in a de factolockdown.

While the addition of outdoor dining has saved many small cafés and restaurants, a lack of consideration for people with disabilities in mobility or those with visual impairments has resulted in new and additional barriers. A woman with a visual impairment contacted me to highlight this issue as it creates uncertainty and erodes independence. In towns like Bandon, seating has been put on reclaimed street space so that it leaves the footpaths free, which is great. These matters were highlighted during Make a Way Day two weeks ago. Any actions from national or local government need to be implemented through a disability lens to ensure basic mistakes like this do not arise. There are countless other examples I could give from across west Cork and beyond from people who have contacted me since I was elected. The common thread in all these stories is a State that is unwilling to accept its responsibility to address the needs of all citizens and residents.

The motion rightly calls for funding to fully reopen day and other essential disability services and to guarantee sustainable capacity within disability and dementia services. This responds to the calls from people with disabilities. They are the experts and we have to listen to them. The Government prioritised the opening of schools and colleges in roadmaps and "living with Covid" documents. It needs to do the same for people with disabilities. We need healthcare services locally at the point of need, therapeutic supports in schools and training centres, vastly improved accessibility in transport and towns, and to see an immediate move from congregated settings to community-based housing. We also need to properly pay medical and support staff, including carers, and provide employment opportunities for people in all communities.

Funding is central here. The State outsources its responsibility to charitable organisations and the goodwill of communities. However, the weakness of this model has come to the fore since fundraising capacities have collapsed, with an average loss of 40% in income for members of the Disability Federation of Ireland. These losses are even more significant for small to medium community-based disability organisations that rely so heavily on fundraising when they should be able to rely on the State. These organisations need those funds matched, at the very least, to maintain services. They will need even more to be able to operate under Covid protocols and to develop innovative approaches to providing services. For example, CoAction West Cork, a support service for children and adults with an intellectual disability and-or autism, needs money to recruit, retain and fully pay its staff. The Government will need to invest in CoAction and other smaller organisations to cover the full costs of Covid expenditure in disability services.

An issue I have raised before, and will continue to raise, is the shameful lack of appropriate housing. Article 19 of the UN convention guarantees the right to live independently in the community with a range of in-home, residential and other community support services, rather than in institutions. Successive Governments have failed to ensure this right is provided for. In west Cork it is practically impossible to access independent supported living.

Ordinarily, this is a breach of people's rights but during Covid-19 this puts people, some of whom have underlying medical complications, at greater risk. This is not a symptom of the pandemic but of poor policy decisions and priorities over decades.

As Dr. Frank Conaty of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission outlined to me at the Special Committee on Covid-19 Response last July:

It is not the pandemic that has caused this, but the pandemic is giving rise to greater risk for people in these congregated settings. ... The fractures in the policy architecture we now see this pandemic showing up have always been there, but it is clearly within our gift to address and correct them.

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is the means by which many of these issues can be addressed and I look forward to working with many Deputies on the Committee on Disability Matters when it is formed. A rights-based approach is absolutely essential. However, in the meantime, the Government must commit to providing the funding and resources necessary to support people with disabilities and their families in living with Covid-19, and with dignity.

Almost 70 Deputies from across the Opposition benches are behind this motion. I thank Sinn Féin for enabling us to do this. Deputies from across the political spectrum may not agree on many things but we are all united on this and I find it hard to believe the 80-plus Deputies in government do not agree with us.

People with disabilities and their families deserve more and are also entitled to more. It is their right and is a right the Government must fulfil.

The pandemic has been hard on everyone. It has brought suffering, loss, unemployment and upset but a disproportionate burden has been placed on people with disabilities and it is essential we do everything we can to lighten that burden.

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