Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an nGrúpa Réigiúnach agus Cáit Nic Amhlaoibh as an obair a chuaigh isteach sa rún seo. Aontaím go huile is go hiomlán leis. Is rún iontach-láidir é agus le cúnamh Dé beidh gach páirtí sásta tacaíocht a thabhairt dó. I am grateful to the Regional Group for tabling this strong motion. I am also grateful that this subject is being debated by all parties here because this concerns an important aspect of inclusion. Ireland today wears the clothes of inclusion. Indeed, it flies the flag of inclusion. The reality for many people throughout the country, however, is radically different than the superficial clothes worn. Sadly, phenomenal barriers remain in contemporary Ireland which prevent people from being included and engaged in society.

For example, in recent months I have seen several schools where children with certain disabilities have not been not allowed to attend for full days because of those disabilities. I know of people with disabilities who have been on social housing waiting lists for more than a decade in certain counties. The level of homelessness among people with disabilities is higher than in the general population. During the Covid-19 restrictions, we have seen a serious impact on the education and development of people with disabilities. Some 74% of childcare providers have confessed to seeing regression in children with special needs and disabilities. Even in a special needs school in my constituency, I have seen where the lack of investment has left a situation where there are rats and holes in the walls. That is the case after that school has been trying to get funding for years.

We have an unequal society and one with barriers. For all the inclusion colours we proclaim, sections of our society are significantly excluded. I worked on making vehicles accessible for people with disabilities for many years. It was one of my first jobs when I came out of college. I worked with hundreds of people with disabilities to get them private transportation to enable them to drive themselves or be driven by their families. I have seen at first-hand the radical difference such provision makes in people's lives. It is important to say that these are people with great skills, knowledge and abilities in many ways and, potentially, with great contributions to make to society. It is important to say that our society is far poorer for not being able to allow the full integration of these people. I have also seen a barrier in situations where this transportation ability is taken from families. I have witnessed the impact that has on the people with the disabilities and on their families, in respect of not being able to grow in levels of skills and confidence and engagement. Therefore, there is a major impact if we do not ensure that people simply have the human right to travel around society.

This is the area where the frustration exists. We had a system before austerity where people could apply for funding to ensure they had access to transportation. The current system is one that was reduced and it is not fit for purpose. The average household in this situation spends about €9,027 on items explicitly concerning disability. This is a phenomenal expense in respect of just surviving, existing and living for many families. Transport costs especially are a significant and recurring cost for these households. If we do not provide a guarantee of funding for families to ensure they can access transportation properly, then we are, effectively, excluding people from society. The knock-on effects of that are great on personal growth and development and on the general ability of people to be able to live a full life in a republic.

That is what we are after all. We are a republic, where everybody should be equal and should be equally able to reach their full potential and participate in society as much as possible. I call on the Government to go back to the drawing board in respect of ensuring that the mobility allowance and the motorised transport grant schemes, which were sealed off previously, are reopened to new entrants in future. There should be a direct funding stream for families to enable them to travel to locations providing vehicles accessible to people with disabilities to allow them to start living their lives again and fully engage in society. They should be able to do that in a manner which does not penalise them through the costs incurred.

I know many young people with disabilities, and they become so reliant on their parents to bring them everywhere.

That hampers their development of independence and their ability to grow as individual, independent human beings. We should be able to guarantee every individual in society the ability to engage completely independently. I urge the Government to get to grips with this issue, because we cannot allow it to persist further.

See this speech in context