Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

In that case, I thank Bríd for her contribution.

More seriously, the last point the Minister of State made about the optional protocol was very much Civil Service-speak. I refer to this being a matter of complexity, the need to progress the issue, have meetings and all the rest of it. How many years have disability campaigners, like those outside the gates now, been campaigning? They are celebrating the scrapping of the Green Paper and campaigning for the optional protocol to be instituted. It cannot be rocket science. Why do we create these tortuous long pieces of work around something that for other countries seems to be very simple? I will tell the House why. It is because this Government has done everything it can to avoid being challenged in the courts in respect of the rights, lives and quality of life of people with disabilities.

It is a bit like the reasoning given when the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, said to me in the House, when we were discussing the referendum Bill, that it was not possible to compel governments to do something in future. This was in relation to the wording that "we will strive to support carers in this society". The weakness of the words "strive to" led to the falling of that referendum. Imagine that the Minister said it is not possible in the Constitution to compel governments to do something in the future. As I said to the Minister at the time, what then is the point of a Constitution, if governments are not being compelled to uphold the rights of the citizens who live under that Constitution?

Really, the Government needs to get the finger out concerning the optional protocol because the people outside the gates today are determined to win more battles to get justice for people with disabilities. They want to see a proper payment that they can live on, similar to what existed during Covid, when we proved that everybody needed at least €350 a week to live on. This has not changed just because the virus is not around. People still need that sort of minimum payment. The people outside the gates also want to see an end to means testing for carers. It is disgraceful that carers are subjected to that means test year after year. This should just be a normal payment for carers.

I want to make an overarching point on the issue of care and the system we live under in this regard. Professor Kathleen Lynch of UCD has written an excellent book entitled, Care and Capitalism. Everyone in this House should read it. Professor Lynch shows that the system we live under completely undervalues one of the most important aspects of human society and how we live together, namely, how we can and should care for each other and that everything else should be put to one side for that reason. This concept will be particularly important in future when we will be fighting in respect of the argument - and as a member of the Green Party, this idea will be familiar to the Minister of State - that what we need is a green new deal that puts a society for care and repair to the head of it. I refer to the repair of the environment and care of each other. To do this, we must get rid of this notion that everything must make a profit for it to be viable. It is not viable to try to make a profit out of people with disabilities and to try to ensure their rights are met within financial constraints.

My next point is on transport services. There are so many aspects of public transport services that damage the lives of people with disabilities. First and foremost is the question of access to bus stations, bus stops and DART stations. This morning, the Dún Laoghaire DART station lift is out of action. If it was not this station, then it would be Kilbarrack, Howth or elsewhere. There is a constant lack of access to the DART line because of the state of disrepair of this service and this situation must be addressed. Imagine being in a wheelchair and arriving to take a train into town to go to a medical appointment or to go to see one's family, but it is not possible to access the train because of the lack of infrastructure.

My next point, which is a simple one, is that our bus infrastructure can only facilitate one wheelchair at a time. As one wheelchair user said to me today, "I like to go out with my mates and a lot of them are in wheelchairs". If two people, therefore, wish to go out together, to go for a coffee, to go into town or to do something together, only one of them can get on the bus. These are very simple, underrated issues that we need to look after in order to adapt and support public transport services so that everybody is included.

A general point about our environment is that when we make it accessible, useable, convenient and a pleasure to use, then it is a pleasure for everybody and not just for the people who are the most disadvantaged and suffer from disabilities. It enhances life for all of us if we factor the issues around public transport and design of our cities into how we make provision in this regard.

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