Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Like previous speakers, I want to compliment the Chair of the Joint Committee on Disability Matters, Deputy Michael Moynihan; the Vice Chair, Deputy Tully; and the team working with us. I am honoured to be on that committee. Excellent work is being done. As previous speakers have said, we are listening but we have huge challenges. In fairness to the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, she has always been helpful to us and she came to every meeting. Even now, on a Thursday evening, the Minister of State is here to take our questions. That is important and I thank her for it.

I will talk about my own area, as always, because many national issues have been covered. I want to give some statistics. Many people who come into my office are on disability allowances. The system has taught them that illness costs money. According to last year's census, more than 14,300 people in County Carlow, or 23% of the county’s population, experience at least one long-lasting condition or difficulty. In its response to budget 2024, the Disability Federation of Ireland said it was devastating to see the sidelining of disability and the tokenistic attitude to people with disability in the budget. I know the Minister of State is working on this, and we need to address it. According to the CSO in 2022, almost one in five of those unable to work due to a disability - 19.7% - are living in constant poverty. This is four times higher than the national average of 5.3%. I know that the Minister of State is working with the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, because it falls within several Departments. I welcome that we now have the Green Paper on Disability Reform. Some consultation meetings are ongoing at the moment, with three remaining. I will give some more figures for my own area. In County Carlow there is no occupational therapy for children. The waiting list for this service is incredibly long. Speech and language and CDNT assessments are working from referrals given in 2019. The families of these children cannot afford to pay for private assessments. I realise that the Minister of State, as she has done in other areas, is bringing in a system whereby families will be helped when they have to access assessments privately. I would like an update on County Carlow in that regard.

Children in my constituency who are entering mainstream schools this September have never seen a therapist. We have no special educational needs officer in Carlow. This is another huge challenge for children with a disability. At our meeting yesterday, we spoke about the local elections, the general election and the European elections. An issue that was brought up related to people with a disability looking to run for election. We all know about the costs associated with running for election. It is expensive to get posters, leaflets and literature done. That presents a barrier for people with disabilities who want to run for election. Is there anything the Minister of State can do to help with that?

I met people from the Carlow branch of the Irish Wheelchair Association during the week. Transport, as has been mentioned, is the biggest issue for people in rural Ireland, particularly in Carlow. Some of the people who spoke to me said they find it challenging to get transport to different events, to reach the service or to go into town. There are huge issues with transport. In Carlow we have some taxis with wheelchair accessibility but we need a lot more. We need to see what sort of funding we can provide to help with that because all taxis should be wheelchair accessible. Medical cards came up. Believe it or not, people face barriers because they have to go back every few years to reapply. That might need to be looked at. Footpaths are another issue.

I would like to mention another area I have been working on. I know the Minister of State is aware of it. Some people who had to give up work because they wanted to stay at home to mind their child do not qualify for the carer's benefit because they are over the limit. I have huge issues with that. If someone is staying at home to mind someone with a disability, they should get the carer's allowance. Again, that involves working with different Departments. This is where we are falling down - we fall between all the different Departments. We need to see more joined-up thinking.

I can honestly say the Minister of State has been fully committed to supporting all the different concerns I have brought to her. A few months ago I met with some of the parents from Down Syndrome Carlow. They were disillusioned because some of their children have not been assessed and are waiting for occupational therapy or speech and language therapy. We need to look at this. Senator Clonan is gone now.

At our meeting yesterday we spoke about Leinster House. I will be writing to the Minister of State and to the Ceann Comhairle because we have no wet room in this building. If we have someone in Leinster House who has a disability and might need a special room, we do not have that. We need to lead by example. I am sure the Minister of State will give me her full support, but we as Members of the Oireachtas must ensure we have a facility here should someone need it. I will be writing to the Minister of State and know she will do her best on this.

I again thank her for her hard work. The main thing for me is to get more staff and focus on retention and recruitment, especially in Carlow. We need more staff; it is a huge issue in the services. I am in CHO 5, as the Minister of State knows.

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