Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Cheann Comhairle agus leis an Teachta Tully faoi choinne na hoibre atá sí ag déanamh sa rún seo ach fosta don obair atá á dhéanamh aici ar son daoine faoi mhíchumas agus cúramóirí amuigh ansin. Bíonn an cheist seo á hardú aici arís agus arís eile. People with disabilities and carers deserve better and the time for action is now. In Donegal, and indeed throughout the State, people with disabilities and carers feel let down by this Government and even abandoned, if I may say so. They need support that goes beyond lip service.

The motion before us sets out Sinn Féin's plan to ensure rights-based access to services and support for people with disabilities and carers. These services include assessments of need, personal and home care assistance, therapy supports and, crucially, respite. It is also high time the Government ratified the optional protocol to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and committed to a definitive timeline for doing so. This should not be put on the long finger any longer. Our motion also calls for the development of a multi-annual funding plan to deliver the disability action plan. We need to be clear. The development funding provided for disability services in the recent budget falls far short of what is needed to deliver real change and to support people with disabilities.

Family carers also need recognition and support. It is estimated that family carers save the State approximately €20 billion each year. The contribution to those they care for, to our communities and to society is undervalued and not paid the recognition it deserves. That must change. We need a comprehensive rights-based charter for family carers with an updated carers' strategy to be implemented across all Departments as part of a whole-of-government approach. This must be delivered with a relaxation of the carer's allowance means test and an increase in the carer's support grant and in disability payments to back up words of recognition with action.

This is Sinn Féin's plan we are putting before the House. It is what we would deliver in government. It is simply unconscionable that financial supports for people with disabilities and family carers fall below a minimum essential standards of living test. That needs to change and it needs to change now. People with disabilities and carers deserve unwavering support. The plan that is before us would give action to that support. I ask everyone in this House who has the interests of those with disabilities and those who care for others at heart to support this motion so that we can build a more inclusive, more equal and more compassionate Ireland. I ask the Government not only to support the Sinn Féin plan, but also to implement it and to do the right thing for carers and for people with disabilities. I ask it to take our plan and implement it.

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