Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward the motion. I want to touch on the budget because every year on budget day we go through the same farce again and again. The Government announces a high-level figure for investment in disability services. This year it claimed the figure was €336 million, only for us to find out days later that this money will largely pay for services already being provided and the actual amount allocated to expanding our threadbare supports is far lower. In reality, only €42 million for the expansion of disability services is in this year's budget. That is a €22 million decrease on last year's budget. I would like to hear an explanation from the Government to justify reducing the amount of additional funding.

The disability capacity review published in 2021 quantifies the current and future need for disability support services. One of the key issues highlighted was significant levels of unmet need for disability services and net changes in the size and age profile of the disability service population which will add to unmet need over the coming decade. The review also stated that addressing demographic changes alone would not be sufficient as the current level of unmet need is not sustainable. There is a need to spend between €550 million and €1 billion extra each year to meet the needs of the growing and ageing population between now and 2032.

This funding is needed for residential services, supported housing, adult day programmes, multidisciplinary therapy services, personal assistants and respite. The disability capacity review outlined the situation and it was up to the Government to respond quickly and sufficiently. There have been four separate budgets since the review was published and none has come close to meeting those funding targets. The last budget only allocated an extra €42 million in additional expenditure for investment in disability services. The Social Democrats provided for a total package of €660 million in additional funding for disability, with €127 million to be provided for the expansion of services, ensuring adequate funding for the huge capacity gaps that exist in services.

The disability capacity review was a stark reminder of just how far behind the rest of society disabled people have fallen in terms of basic community and residential services. Instead of ramping up investment as its report recommends, the Government decided to wind it down. The Taoiseach promised that this budget would make disabled people feel seen. Does he genuinely believe that slashing the funding allocation for additional services by that much makes people feel seen?

All the while, nearly 13,500 children are waiting for initial appointments with children's disability network teams, disabled people in Ireland face the highest unemployment rate of disabled people in Europe, poverty rates among disabled people are three times higher than in the general population and the ESRI warned the budget will push more disabled and older people into poverty. Is that what prioritising disability looks like to this Government? I often wonder what exactly is the point of a new Cabinet subcommittee if these are the kinds of ideas that it produces. Political choices are being made at that subcommittee and the Cabinet table about what to spend money on and how much, and that led to disability services becoming threadbare and dysfunctional at a time of record surpluses.

It seems the only thing that disabled people and their families are guaranteed from the State are waiting lists for assessment of need, therapies and school places. Successive Governments have repeatedly failed people with disabilities and this Government is no different. There was an opportunity in the budget for the Government to put its money where its mouth is when it comes to disability and invest in the services and supports to lift people out of poverty and tackle the structural issues at the root of social isolation and unemployment rates. Instead, we have seen another missed opportunity to make a real difference to people's lives. Failing to address the structural barriers results in disabled people being unable to access services, employment, suitable accommodation and education.

The budget failed to address the cost of disability with a weekly cost-of-disability payment, for which the Social Democrats have long advocated, instead providing a one-off payment of €400. Disability is not a one-off; it is consistent and incurs day-to-day costs which add up to between €9,000 and €13,000 a year, not including inflation and the rising cost of living. We know in some instances, the cost is a lot more than that. If this budget truly attempted to tackle poverty rates and the rate of poverty and deprivation among disabled people, it should have addressed the cost of disability with more than a one-off payment.

The next Government needs to create a pathway so that, through a combination of the disability allowance and cost-of-disability payments, people are brought above the poverty line and reach at least the minimum essential standard of living. If Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party will not sufficiently fund disability services at a time of record surpluses, I have no faith that they ever will.

Ireland ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2018. We were the last country in the EU to do so. Six years on, we have not ratified the optional protocol. It is poorly named. Far from being optional, it is a crucial tool for the implementation of the UNCRPD. All states that sign the convention are obliged to take steps to ensure that disabled people can exercise their human rights. When states fail to uphold these rights, the optional protocol is there to allow individuals to hold the state accountable. It empowers people with disabilities to stand up against discriminatory laws and practices by the state, which is why it is so vital to ratify the optional protocol as soon as possible.

One of the Government's excuses for not ratifying the optional protocol in previous years was delays at UN level. Ratification had been expected to follow Ireland's first periodic review under the convention. These delays were not news to me or the Ministers. The disability matters committee received briefings from the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, IHREC, in June 2021, which outlined the backlog in the UN and the need for the Government to bring forward its plan for ratification. The Secretary General of the Department of children acknowledged those delays at the time and stated that the Department was very open to ratifying the convention much sooner. The Secretary General outlined that the original timeframe in the UN reporting cycle would be met and ratification would be required by the middle of 2022.

It is now October 2024 and we are still waiting for ratification. How is it that it was only in August 2023 that the Minister sought external legal advice as to what work needed to be done in order for Ireland to be in compliance with the convention? It was only in March of this year that an interdepartmental group was set up.

How is it that only now, with weeks, if not days, left in this Government are we hearing that the protocol-----

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