Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

This morning at the Joint Committee on Disability Matters we heard presentations from people who have disability in their mind. AsIAm, WALK and other agencies were in attendance to explain what is happening in Ukraine to children and people with disabilities and what the challenges are when they come out of Ukraine and into Ireland or across Europe. The presentation from WALK describes how the organisation was:

... in touch with an organisation in Kyiv in Ukraine where they gave practical examples of how people with disabilities are disproportionately affected by the war. For example, shelters in Kyiv are inaccessible, so people with disabilities are forced to stay at home with no level of safety, adults and children are being left in institutions to fend for themselves with little or no access to food and water, there is no essential medication for lifelong conditions such as multiple sclerosis and epilepsy, power failures where electric wheelchairs become inoperable, and we have been told stories about the experiences of people with disabilities that have died unnecessarily because they cannot hide or navigate the cities' surfaces that are now covered in rubble making them completely inaccessible for anybody with mobility issues.

That was part of the presentation this morning. It shows what is actually happening to people with disabilities in Ukraine.

We are all very forgiving but I do not know how we can forgive Mr. Putin for throwing this onto the people of Ukraine, including the vulnerable.

I am involved with agencies across Europe that focus on children with autism. More than 100 Ukrainian children with autism have come to this country so far. Putting them into hotels is not at all right. They need to have safe accommodation and an environment they can get used to. They have been through so much trauma. A huge body of work is to be done to make sure that when we bring in people with special needs, they will be treated properly and not all in the same way. There is an individuality problem here and we need to make sure that we deal with it. It is a huge challenge. We have a challenge here in any event in trying to provide services. We must take cognisance of this when planning to take in people.

At the meeting this morning, it very much came across that there is a lack of co-ordination at interdepartmental level in delivering disability services. The added problem is that it is very hard to find who is in charge. While the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, is the Minister of State responsible for disabilities, who is co-ordinating the bringing into Ireland of those with special needs? Who is identifying those needs? Some people are leaving Ukraine but leaving all their mobility aids behind because they cannot bring them with them. These people are being carried into this country. On arriving, interpreters must be got to find out exactly what medication they are on. This is not painting a pretty picture. It is actually cruel to have to talk about it, but the way it was presented to us this morning was very strong and simple. We need to put a co-ordinated plan in place and make sure that we have all the support services required. That is a challenge because we are failing to provide the services for our own people. We must ask how we can deliver for everyone with a special need.

The question of housing and its scarcity has been documented well here today. As Deputy Shanahan said, there is potential in the existing vacant stock. We should wipe out or circumvent all the planning regulations and rules. Gateway approval is needed to spend money to do the houses up. We need to just get on with it. Also, we need to make sure, all working together, that we do not leave anybody behind. We must explore every option, including in the short term. What is short-term? The people coming here from Ukraine say they want to go back to their own country but they will not be able to do so until it is rebuilt and there is accommodation for them there. That will take more than a few months. Therefore, we have a huge challenge on our hands. We have a long-term problem in this country with services for disabilities but we now have an added challenge. We must work together on it. We must not treat everybody who comes into the country in the same way.

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