Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

First, I welcome today’s news on the establishment of the interdepartmental group on the optional protocol and I hope this will speed up the ratification as it is now long overdue. We remember the delays in the ratification of the UNCRPD in the first instance and the 11 miserable years that went by there. Last year, there were 5,500 family carers who did not receive the carer’s allowance but did receive the carer's support grant, 319 of whom were in County Clare. We must phase out the means test for carer’s allowance. It is time we give family carers the respect and the recognition they deserve. We therefore also must increase the carer’s allowance in line with Family Carers Ireland's plan for a participation income. As the Minister knows, unpaid family carers save the State on average €20 billion per year, which is the equivalent of a second HSE.

I want to briefly speak about reform also. I was delighted to join my friends in the Clare Leader Forum last Friday to launch their book, We Are Human Too. The experience of disabled people must be central to how disability policy is shaped in this country. They must be at the decision-making table. Disabled people in my constituency of Clare have made it clear that they outright reject the reforms proposed in the Green Paper on disability. As the Minister well knows, one cannot plan for disability services without the voices of the disability community at the table. On that note, upon seeking clarification in respect of polling stations and accessibility, I was surprised by the response I received that points to there being only one polling station in County Clare that is currently inaccessible. In County Clare, I am aware of the desperate need for four respite homes for people with disabilities.

It is a matter of utmost urgency as at a recent UHL briefing it was explained to me that those who cannot avail of respite are actually ending up in the emergency department. As the Minister also knows, it is the only model 4 emergency department in the mid-west region and I would love the opportunity to discuss this matter with him at a later date.

On personal assistant hours, it is essential that the Minister commits to reforming the distribution of PA hours to enable parity of services across all regional health areas. Personal assistants should be helping people across Ireland to meet their social, personal and employment needs. The Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, previously spoke at length about how she agrees with that but how many of those 70,000 PA hours committed to last year have actually been filled because of the lack of availability of people to fill those positions?

See this speech in context