Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Another take on our slowness in ratifying the UN convention would be that we just wanted to drag our heels. Other countries ratified the convention straight away and it may have set a benchmark for them to make sure they could achieve it. I would love to think we will ratify the optional protocol. What is the timeframe for that? I would like to know because I do not believe the Government intends to do it and, unfortunately, I do not believe people with disabilities think the Government intends to do it either, which is sad.

We know the budget for disability services and the work that is being done for persons with disabilities but it is not enough. There are people being left behind, ignored and neglected. I ask the Tánaiste to listen to their voices. I will conclude with some of their voices:

People with disabilities are human too, we have feelings, we have needs, we deserve respect for what we live with and [live] through.

Another says:

Children and families are falling through ruptures, not cracks [in relation to the assessment of need]. A two year wait for Occupational Therapy for a child is just not ok.

Those are the kind of things we need to respond to, and to do so properly.

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