Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputies Cairns and Canney for giving up their time. I acknowledge the presence of the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, and the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte.

As a former member of the committee in my role as a Senator, I was glad to take part in some of the hearings that led to the production of this report, albeit I had to leave the committee on my election to this House before the report was completed.

It was, as Deputy Canney has said, a powerful experience to hear the testimonies of persons with disabilities, to hear representatives from disabled people's organisation and to hear renowned experts, such as Professor Gerard Quinn, speak about the importance of the UNCRPD and of implementing a truly rights-based approach for persons with disabilities. We all learned a great deal - I know I did - from the experience of being on the committee and I want to acknowledge that.

I also commend my former colleagues on the committee, including Deputies Tully and Michael Moynihan, whom we all wish a speedy recovery, for the immense work that went into the report and for the strong recommendations in it. The voices of the individuals who we heard and their experiences are reflected in these recommendations. That is really important too.

It is disappointing to learn, despite that key recommendation that the optional protocol would be urgently ratified, that it will be delayed. The Minister frankly acknowledged difficulties with it. I wonder will we see ratification in 2022, as is hoped for in the committee's report or is it likely to be delayed further. That is a key question.

It is also disappointing to hear of the delay in the transfer of functions between Departments. There is an ambitious programme of transfer of functions. The disability unit that was within the Department of Justice has now moved to the new Department, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, but I understand the disability functions in the Department of Health have yet to transfer.

I recall raising this issue at committee hearings with the Minister of State. At that point, it seemed that those functions would transfer sooner. I know there have been difficulties with individual hard cases, for example, falling between Departments. I hope we will see a very speedy and efficient roll-out of that transfer.

I will refer to a number of key recommendations, in particular on education and recommendations Nos. 23 to 26, inclusive, on the need to see a roll-out of ASD units and of SNAs to children with particular needs. In my own constituency in Dublin Bay South, I met with quite a number of parents on Monday night about their immense distress and frustration and not being able to access places for their children. We have a real shortage of ASD units in Dublin 2, 4 and 6. It is something that I have raised, as have others, in both Houses. We really need to see this addressed urgently so I am really glad the committee is highlighting that issue.

The report acknowledges rightly that transport and housing are key factors to enable people with disabilities to live independently. On travel, I am really glad to see universal design thinking emphasised. There are two issues that disabled constituents have raised with me consistently. One is the need to regulate e-scooters. I was sorry I did not get a chance to speak on the Road Traffic Bill earlier. We ran out of time. It is vitally important that we regulate the use of e-scooters. These really cause people with disabilities and mobility issues a great deal of concern due to unregulated usage and the danger that presents to all of us on roads and footpaths.

There is the issue of free travel. Epilepsy Ireland, in particular, has been campaigning for change to ensure that individuals will have greater access to free travel passes where people with epilepsy may feel it is not safe to use private cars.

I am really glad that housing and care is really emphasised in this report. Something that came up at many of our hearings was the need to ensure and facilitate and move away from congregation settings for persons with disabilities. However, as the report acknowledges, there are still significant numbers of persons under 65 years of age still housed in nursing homes and people in congregated settings where they should be facilitated with a move to community-based and smaller settings.

This is an issue that I think we really need, again to focus on with much greater urgency. I raised it just this evening in a Topical Issue debate. There is a crisis in terms of recruitment of home carers. There is such a shortage. All of us are hearing it in every constituency. We are hearing it from those who require care themselves, either due to age or disability, from their carers within families and, indeed, from the carers themselves who have come to so many of us looking for greater certainty and better conditions. We have also heard from the providers of care services who tell us that they cannot recruit staff. In order to move to the decongregation which the committee heard so much about, we need to address this crisis so that people will be supported in living independently in their own homes through the provision of home-based care. That is an essential part of the new fair deal as well for those persons with needs that have in the past meant they were institutionalised but who happily, now, in a more enlightened time we hope we can support at home. However, I learned earlier that nearly 5,000 people, as of September, who have been assessed for home support hours were still awaiting allocation for a home carer. That is a shocking figure in 2021. I think that illustrates the difficulty with achieving that rights-based approach that this report so rightly demands.

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