Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Acting Chairman and I welcome the opportunity to speak on this very important subject. As a member of the Joint Committee on Disability Matters, and along with the Minister of State and other Deputies who have spoken earlier, I believe we are doing good work on this committee. It is well supported by the Ministers and Ministers of State and also by the staff. We had a meeting this morning on various issues with Department officials.

We are discussing the issue of disabilities and Covid-19 and the full impact that it has had. I could, no more than the Minister of State who is from the same constituency as me, spend my evening going through the calls that we have received over the past 15 months from parents and families who went through such a torrid time through no fault of anybody other than that of Covid-19. Some of the issues that came to mind when I was preparing for this debate were that in some cases parents or families felt that there was total isolation, a sense of abandonment and a sense that families were on their own as a result of the closure of services. It was, and continues to be, a very difficult experience for service users and their families. When we think about that and look at where we are now, as we now go through a phase which is, hopefully, the most positive of the last 15 months and move back to what should be a near-normal living experience again for everybody, there is a potential, an opportunity and also a duty on us to ensure that we do things right.

We were all caught off guard when the pandemic came in and during it. There were things that we never contemplated would happen and did happen. The suffering that people endured right throughout society and the sacrifices that people made were never things have were on our agenda when we were out campaigning in the last general election not too long ago.

We have to be sure of certain things now as to the July provision, as it is called. It was a major concern and the struggle to reopen education for special needs children was not handled very well. Many families suffered in silence. There are still scars within families today about what happened and there is more than a fear as to what is going to happen in the future. A great deal of money has been spent and they wonder where the money will come from to look after their children and family members.

The first thing we need to ensure is that the July provision is available to all families who want it this year. There can be no “ifs”, “buts” or “ands”. The biggest issue is the suffering that people have endured because of the regression caused by the pandemic and the absence of the prioritisation of a contingency plan for people with disabilities.

We are coming out of the pandemic at present and the opportunity is now there for the State to put people with disabilities at the centre of this journey out of Covid-19 to ensure that not one of these people are left on their own or left behind again. Funding is required to implement change and that funding needs to be given to the people who need it. It cannot get lost in translation. Announcements of funding are fine but the people who need it need to see that the funding is coming quickly rather than perhaps two years later, when a great amount of schemes have to be put in place. There are too many gaps in the funding which is also unacceptable.

Respite services are crucial in addressing the regression caused by the loss of services. It is crucial that additional respite services are provided and located where they are needed and accessible to families. I am sure the Minister of State is aware that we do not have any overnight respite services for children in Galway at present. It has been like that for a long time and it is not because of Covid-19. We need to address that. We need to ensure that children can remain within their own county and do not have to go to Limerick or other places for a night’s respite.

Early intervention is still not fully resourced and is still in transition, leaving parents having to battle every step of the way for what is a human right. Waiting times for assessment of needs also needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency. The mental anguish suffered by parents and families waiting for appointments is an indictment of this failure and of the lack of resources. This has not happened just today, it has been going on for years and is a failure of the State for many decades. At the moment there are approximately 1,400 assessments overdue.

The ratification and implementation of the optional protocol of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and of the convention itself needs to be done. The official in the relevant section of the Department told me today that it will be done as soon as humanly possible. When I pressed him for a date he could not give me one. I accept that but we need to get a date sooner rather than later. There is no need for us to get it locked up in legislation or whatever else.

We also need to ensure that when we still look across the nation and that when we finish in this Dáil we have done something right for people with disabilities. It will take money but I do not believe it is a cost. It is an investment in our citizens and in our children and we should make every effort to do that. I thank the Acting Chairman.

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