Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

One of the simple facts that most people understand is that failure to plan is planning to fail. Deputy Canney spoke about how often we had stood on this floor to debate this issue. In my short political career, I have stood on this floor 60 times to discuss disability issues. It is terrible that I have to tell the Government that matters are getting worse, not better. Despite the fact the Government believes it is pumping money into this area, the situation is going backwards.

The Government set up 93 CDNTs around the country, but there are 817 vacancies. I will cite a letter that was sent to a family – constituents of mine – in New Ross. I will not go through it all, only the pertinent parts. According to it, children’s disability services have undergone significant reform and restructuring nationally with the implementation of the progressing disability services programme and the launching of children’s disability network teams in south-east community healthcare in September 2021. This letter is less than six months old. According to it, the core objective of this change was to ensure that children with complex interdisciplinary needs and their families would receive an appropriate family-centred service, but this transition has been faced with many challenges across south-east community healthcare, including but not limited to recruitment and retention of staff, the implementation of a new model of service, and the delivery of pre-existing waiting lists for services. The letter states that the approved staffing for the New Ross children’s disability network was 9.5 clinical posts and 1.55 administrative-management posts and that, as of now, only 3.7 clinical posts are filled, with 5.8 vacant. It also states that there are 274 children registered and that the vacant clinical posts on the team are across the disciplines of occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, nursing and dietetics.

Now, that is going backwards. As I have said previously, what is the point of having teams that are not fully staffed? We would be better having full teams in the centre of the county and providing the transport to get them there, because this is just the same as CAMHS. It is a non-service. If a child does not receive early intervention, we are stacking up these problems for the future. I have said before that the CDNT is a complete failure. We are four years in since 2021 and things have not improved. They have got worse. Reviews have been done with parents and service users and recommendations have been made, none of which have been implemented. Throwing good money after bad policy does not work but it is certainly a trait of this Government.

I move on from child services to actual adult employment services. It is very disappointing for the section 39 organisations that employ adults under the disability programme. Kilcannon Garden Centre, Enniscorthy, County Wexford, made significant pre-budget representations through a series of political representatives, both in government and outside. It asked that the wage subsidy scheme for community service programmes be increased. It has 17 employees with intellectual disability employed in Kilcannon Garden Centre alone. There have been no provisions made to increase the wage subsidy scheme. This is a garden centre but it also has a restaurant and cafe element to it. All cafes, private and none, are under severe pressure not least because the Government has not reduced the VAT rate. The protest today was by the for-profit sector. This is a section 39. It is a failure to plan when 17 people with intellectual disabilities may soon find themselves out of a job. That is absolutely despicable. The lack of consideration for these people and their families is beyond reproach. When I started and ran for election first, all I heard from the disability sector was that it does not see politicians from one end of the year to the other and for five years in between elections. What do we get the Minister doing last week? The Cabinet agreed to implement the UN protocol for people with disabilities. The Minister of State knows, and I know that this House is full of talk of an election. It is more false hope. Maybe we will not go ahead with an election, and if there is any reason I hope we will not, it is so that the Government will implement the UN protocol. It takes a series of weeks, and I will be reminding it every step of the way if an election is called, that it is all just wolf whistling, or whatever the hell they call it, to garner votes. The Government has had since 2008 to do it. It was ratified by this House in 2018, and the week before a purported election it decides it will implement it. For the 13.5% of people with disabilities, I very much hope this is carried out.

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