Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I am looking back on the record of the debate around this and see it has been going on since 2015. When former Deputy Finian McGrath was Minister of State, he made the same commitment in 2018 that the Minister is making here today. That is four years ago. Four years might not seem a long time to a Deputy or a Minister, but it is a long time in the life of somebody who has to live with a crippling and often crucifyingly painful disability, and who is not getting the services that the State should be obliged to give them. They have no redress and no recourse to come back on the State or the Department if they suffer, but the Minister and previous Ministers have told us that they are working hard on it and have promised they are going to deliver on it. Seven years on from 2015, it still has not moved forward. I find that unacceptable. The people who need access to this optional protocol, who need the mechanism to be able to call the State to account, must find it excruciating. Both the Minister and the Minister of State sit there patiently and say they are overburdened with Civil Service work and that they have to get the Bill passed. There needs to be a feeling of urgency around this issue, once and for all.

See this speech in context