Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move:

That Dáil Éireann:

recognises that:

— Ireland is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), which places an onus on signatories to "provide access to transportation on an equal basis to enable persons with disabilities to live independently and participate fully in all aspects of life";

— people with disabilities should be able to lead full and active lives within their communities; and

— people with disabilities need access to public and personal transport;

notes that:

— the Ombudsman report entitled "Grounded - Unequal access for people with disabilities to personal transport schemes", highlights the years of inaction by the Government to address supports for people with disabilities;

— the lack of action and delay by Government in introducing a fair and fit-for-purpose transport scheme for people with disabilities is affecting their ability to live independently and participate in all aspects of life as stated by the UNCRPD;

— the Independent Living Movement Ireland overview of the Department of Health "Disability Capacity Review to 2032: A Review of Disability Social Care Demand and Capacity Requirements up to 2032", made a series of enhanced recommendations for the implementation of rights-based services;

— transport costs tend to be an extra living cost that people with disabilities are unable to afford, and the Indecon report entitled "The Cost of Disability in Ireland" estimates that households spend on average an additional €9,027 on items specifically relating to disability, special versions of products, transport and mobility;

— many people with disabilities are confined to home, unable to engage on an equal basis in employment or in their community, as they are unable to access Government support to help with their personal transport needs;

— it has been ten years since the discontinuation of the Mobility Allowance and the Motorised Transport Grant for new applicants in 2013, and the Government has yet to provide a fair and equal replacement scheme; and

— the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers Scheme continues to reinforce the inequitable eligibility criteria in primary legislation and continues to exclude many people in need of access to supports for personal transport; and

calls on the Government to:

— collaborate with all relevant Departments to develop a plan, in consultation with people with disabilities, Disabled Persons' Organisations and disability service providers, that provides collaboration and equitable access to transport across disability services, health and education as recommended in the report of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Disability Matters entitled "Aligning Disability Services with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities", published in February 2023;

— introduce a new integrated transport scheme for people with disabilities and their carers that ensures flexible arrangements that meet the needs of the individual and are in compliance with the Equal Status Acts;

— provide funding and introduce a comprehensive transport support scheme to replace the Mobility Allowance and Motorised Transport Grant, as a matter of priority;

— reinstate and amend the Primary Medical Certificate process in line with the social model of disability and ensure it is based on a broader spectrum of considerations rather than strict, narrow criteria, which presently is not fit for purpose;

— address the issues concerning the eligibility criteria for the schemes with immediate effect;

— reintroduce the payment of a cash allowance like the mobility allowance, so that people with disabilities and their families have flexibility and reliable door-to-door transport for urgent appointments; and

— invest in transport infrastructure that considers and supports accessibility, mobility, and inclusion for people with a disability.

I am sharing time with Deputies Lowry, Verona Murphy and Fitzpatrick.

People with disabilities have in effect been coping with a decade-long lockdown because successive governments have failed to put transport supports in place to allow them to access work and other community activities. In 2013, the Government suspended the mobility allowance and motorised transport grant for new applicants after the Office of the Ombudsman found that those schemes' eligibility criteria were in breach of the Equal Status Acts. We were promised an alternative, fair and equitable replacement scheme. Despite the best efforts of the then Minister of State, former Deputy Finian McGrath, in the previous Government and successive Ministers with responsibility for disability, including the current Minister and the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, who are determined to address the issue, that scheme has never happened.

To compound this, we found out at the end of 2020 that the primary medical certificate scheme was being suspended from the previous June after a High Court challenge had been settled. This scheme, after a tortuous process, afforded people with disabilities a reduction in VRT and VAT when purchasing or adapting vehicles. It also exempted them from motor tax and tolls and offered a fuel grant. It was only after pressure was applied in the House that the scheme was reinstated, albeit on a more restrictive basis, with the appeals process effectively abandoned. We were promised that the reinstatement was temporary pending a long-term reform of the scheme, but we are still waiting for that review and reform to be completed.

Sadly, there is an underlying trend in this. If people with disabilities challenge the inequity and unfairness of the current restricted schemes that are supposed to support them, the schemes and supports get suspended or restricted even further. This creates a chilling effect which was never the intention of the Government or Dáil Éireann when Ireland signed up to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, UNCRPD. This convention places an onus on signatories to provide access to transportation on an equal basis to enable persons with disabilities to live independently and participate fully in all aspects of life, yet this is being ignored in practice by the Government. Is it any wonder that the outgoing Ombudsman, Mr. Peter Tyndall, described personal transport supports for people with disabilities as inadequate, unfair and inequitable? Due to the lack of transport supports to meet their needs, people with disabilities are not receiving the support they need to live independently and lead active lives within our communities.

As a result of all of this, my Regional Group colleagues and I brought this issue to the floor of the House 14 months ago, where we were promised action.

In reality, however, little has happened, and that is the reason we have tabled this motion.

The Government's own commissioned report, the Indecon report entitled The Cost of Disability in Ireland, confirms that people living with a disability face additional costs of living explicitly related to disability, transport and mobility issues. Those costs are equivalent to the current payment rate of the disability allowance. Today the problem is that the disability allowance is paid at a rate which is supposed to meet the essential living costs of a citizen in this country but does not. Instead it covers just the additional cost associated with having a disability, leaving people effectively to live on fresh air, and that is not good enough. People with disabilities need access to affordable public and personal transport. Many people with disabilities, however, are confined to the home and are unable to engage on an equal basis in employment or in their community as they cannot access Government support to help with their transport needs.

I urge the Minister to take on board this motion, not just in principle but in a way that ensures it is implemented in full as a matter of urgency.

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