Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank everyone for their contributions. The programme for Government commits to the ratification of the optional protocol and the Government intends to fulfil it. Both the Minister, Deputy O’Gorman, and I have indicated that we are open to earlier ratification of the optional protocol and that the Department has commenced the necessary scoping exercise to ascertain the requirements for ratifying the protocol at the earliest opportunity. While the exact date for ratification cannot be provided yet, it is a priority for the Government to ensure that ratification takes place at the earliest date.

There was a question earlier, which I think may have been from Deputy Tully, that there may have been a missed opportunity when the EPSEN Act was being processed that the Disability Act was not also looked at. The Minister was very clear in our programme of work that the assisted decision-making Act was first, we were doing the Equality Act and then we would look at the next part. There was a strategy there and we wanted to look at the Equality Act first. That was a decision we both made and we will stand over it.

Everyone, including the last speaker, has spoken on transport. We all have different ways of looking at transport but if we do not get the built environment right first, it is very hard to take the next steps. I cannot recall where I was recently and I was asking how it worked. I think it was that the bus looks after the cyclist, the cyclist looks after the walker and then there is the car driver, so there is a type of hierarchy on the highways. It is about getting the built environment right. Deputy Leddin was so right in saying that and I am delighted that he is looking at the issue of continuous footpaths. It is one of the most challenging things for many disabled people living in their communities. While we are spending a lot at the moment and looking at the add-ons taking place, it is important to ensure that they back right to the existing footpath and making sure that it follows the universal design approach that is acceptable and flexible to all. I have to acknowledge the role that the Minister for Transport has played in enabling me to look at the issue of inclusive travel. Deputy Leddin and I have spoken about trikes. That is me dipping my toe in to ensure that people with disabilities can be an active participant whether it is along a greenway or in a local community. We have research from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland that has proves that young people and not-so-young people want the same inclusion opportunities as others and should be given that right. If we genuinely believe in aligning our Departments to the UNCRPD, we would also genuinely believe in investment in the trikes and in any family having the right to participate equally in their local community. We should be championing the wider footpaths and the extra space. It is not just a bicycle lane; it is far more than that.

By the same token, the Minister for Transport will support me in respect of the next door I will knock on, which I have knocked on it already, namely the NTA's. This is something that Deputy Wyne mentioned earlier. If we want bus operators to come on board with us, the most important issue is the low-level floor. However, only tour operators get grants for low-level floors. I do not know if Deputies know this.

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There is a grant that enables bus operators to move to electric vehicles. The lower level bus operators do not get that grant because it is seen as a tour operator grant as opposed to a smaller bus grant. We need to look at that, to be honest.

This day last week, I visited the Harris Group on the Longmile Road, or whichever is the relevant road. Deputies know where I am talking about. I went out to see about the buses. The reason I went out there was because everybody says that there is only the capacity for one wheelchair on a mainstream bus or a 17- or 24-seater bus. In actual fact, with modern design, we can get four on. Those buses are able to take four wheelchairs. They are also able to provide charging for wheelchairs when they are on the bus. Those buses have the low-level floors. It is amazing where design and technology have gone. As a State, we need to catch up with that design and technology. The NTA needs to partner better with us to ensure that we do not have 54 buses parked up but can instead use our transport fleet better in the disability space.

There are many better ways to become more sustainable. In the Acts I have talked about, it is a matter of social enterprise. That social enterprise could wash itself through in about three years. By using the DART infrastructure and connecting to electric cables overhead, buses can be recharged. That is far above my pay grade, but there are great opportunities in that respect to allow us to look after the people who want their own lanes, as well as the more universal approach in that regard.

I absolutely agree about what can be done with this House. The Ceann Comhairle has led by example in ensuring we have an autism-friendly House. It was him and the Leader of the Seanad, Senator Buttimer, who led that. The changing places piece is a conversation I am having. Another place in this House that is a barrier is upstairs where the paintings of previous leaders are with the view across Merrion Square. There is a step down there so a wheelchair user can never get to see those pictures of the former leaders or the view of Merrion Square. One of the ushers has said that we just need the OPW to make a little bit of a ramp and we would have that issue sorted. That would take us to a conclusion with regard to the upper part of these Houses.

If I do not talk about Carlow for a moment or two, I will not be safe to get to the back door. Deputy Murnane O'Connor raised a number of issues relating to Carlow. One of the issues that everyone would agree with the Deputy about is in respect of assessments of need. The Deputy's colleague has left, but this is an issue that applies to everyone's county and constituency. It is a priority for me. There is no denying it or shying away from it. The issue is addressed in the roadmap. When we launched the progressing disability services roadmap, I mentioned that I am looking at a reimbursement scheme if parents look to go for private assessments. I am looking to see how to align that and tie it into the existing framework. Sometimes when you try to do something new, setting it up and trying to do it takes longer. I am trying to see if there is something I can align with the infrastructure that is already in place.

It is about ensuring a multidisciplinary approach that is acceptable to the HSE and the National Council for Special Education and that families do not have to part with money because the funding will be paid directly by the HSE to the provider, as long as that provider is within a secure structure and within the framework of the HSE already. We are probably already using many of these private therapists, as Deputy Michael Moynihan said. It is about ensuring we can speed up the process. Children need assessments of need. It would be wrong of me to say they need those assessments to access education but they certainly do for access to special classes. They need assessments for access to social protection and the carer's allowance. I operate in a siloed system where there is needs-based approach. There is not a needs-based approach, however, in education or social protection. I am trying to find a means to support families. The sooner we can get assessments of need out of the way the better. It must be about intervention. Children will only start to make progress thereafter. The piece of paper does not define their progress. It is about intervention and face-to-face time with a therapist. We need to get assessments of need sorted so that it is all about interventions. It is then that we will put the child at the centre.

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