Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I want to ask about the consequences of the defeated care referendum. I think the Taoiseach knows and we all know that a significant part of why that was defeated was the anger of people with disabilities, special needs, carers, and so on, about the failure of the Government to include real rights for carers and people with disability in the Constitution. I do not anticipate that the Government will have another referendum of that sort in the term of this Government but it seems to me that it has an obligation to heed the message that was sent from carers and people with disabilities. I want to know what the Taoiseach will do in response to the clear message that was sent. He promised that the Government would ratify the optional protocol to the UNCRPD, which would give real rights to people with disabilities. Is the Government going to do it and when? Will the Government get rid of means testing for carers and disability allowances, which is effectively trapping carers and people with disabilities in poverty, particularly women? What is the Taoiseach going to do about the absolutely shocking situation with the provision of assessments for children with special needs and the services?

I wrote to the Taoiseach about the case I raised with him last week about Margaret, whose child was diagnosed with autism and an intellectual disability in 2023. They were referred for speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and a psychologist and were due to see the speech and language therapist in July, this month, then received a letter saying they would not get the speech and language therapy until January of 2026. This kind of thing has to be addressed as a matter of urgency.

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