Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I commend the Independent Group on bringing forward this motion. I and my colleagues in Sinn Féin will be supporting it. We need to recognise the key role respite plays in supporting persons with a disability and family carers. However, it is not enough to recognise the role respite services play as we must also ensure they are funded adequately.

Respite helps prevent out-of-home full-time residential placements, preserves the family unit and supports family stability. There are approximately 500,000 family carers across Ireland who work unpaid hours to care for and support their loved ones. Family carers have long been held up as a crucial pillar of care and support in Ireland and save the State billions of euro annually. However, time and again, they have not received the support they need and rightfully deserve. Respite needs to be tailored to meet the needs of families as one size does not fit all. Alternative respite provision is needed in a variety of settings and for varied lengths of time depending on the individual needs of the service user and the family or carer. This should include a mix of in-home or home-to-home family support, Saturday clubs, breakaway schemes and summer schemes. Many carers tell me the respite for their loved ones has been booked only for it to be cancelled at short notice if an emergency case arises. This should not be allowed to happen. Sufficient spaces should be made available to cater for emergencies and those who are booked into respite.

The disability capacity review identifies a major shortage of respite for adults with intellectual disabilities. It notes fewer than one in four parents caring for an adult or child with disability receives any form of respite. It identifies a major shortage of respite for carers of adults with intellectual disabilities. It also recognises latent unmet need could be considerably higher than what is recorded.

Sinn Féin has previously committed to a significant increase in spending for respite services. In March 2021 we introduced our own motion to the Dáil entitled "Caring for Carers". In it we called on the Government to implement a number of measures to recognise value and assist family carers, including a call to ensure family carers get the respite they need by building up respite capacity, including delivery of hours and overnights through a doubling of public expenditure. Within this motion we also recognised carers and disabled people are more likely to be living in poverty and called on the Government to establish a discretionary fund to aid carers and people living with a disability who are struggling with heating and electricity costs. That is now even more relevant due to the ongoing cost of living crisis.

Tinkering around the edges will not resolve the issues in respite provision. The Minister of State with responsibility for disability recently committed to properly resource respite services in each county. If I may speak for a moment about my constituency of Cavan-Monaghan, this is certainly not the case. Currently, respite services for both adults and children are provided in Annalee View, a respite centre in Cootehill, County Cavan. However, because adults and children cannot be facilitated together, the services are provided on alternating weeks with adults one week and children the next. This is not sufficient to deal with the large number of people who require respite services throughout the two counties. There is a need for at least two centres. This is not just an issue in Cavan-Monaghan. Respite is vital yet its provision varies greatly from place to place throughout the country and in many cases it is very limited, if it is available at all. When I raised the issue with the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, I suggested she look at decongregated settings because many of them may be suitable for respite when the residents have been moved into community settings.

The motion urges the Government to ratify the optional protocol of the UNCRPD. The UNCRPD was ratified by Ireland in 2018 and exists to protect and reaffirm the human rights of disabled people. The purpose of the convention is to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all disabled people and to promote respect for their inherent dignity. If proper independent living provision was made, as stated under the UNCRPD, there would be less need for respite within some cohorts of our population. The State plans to ratify the optional protocol after the first reporting cycle but that could take several years. It needs to be reconsidered and should be brought forward. Sinn Féin has consistently called for the ratification of the optional protocol of the UNCRPD and so has the Joint Committee on Disability Matters.

I once again commend the Independent Group on bringing forward this motion. Sinn Féin supports it but we also recognise that as well as additional funding for respite, family carers and disabled people need a number of further wraparound supports that are contained in our policy document, "A Charter for Family Carers".

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