Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to examine the disability policy and support for people living with disabilities and their families. Improving the rights of and support for people living with a disability is a priority for me and the new Government. I wish the Minister, Deputy Norma Foley, well in her role; I worked closely with her in her role as Minister for Education. I know at first-hand her commitment and dedication to improving the lives of others, particularly vulnerable citizens. I look forward to the finalisation and publication of the new national disability strategy, which will set out Government priorities up to 2030. I welcome the Minister’s commitment to a whole-of-government approach to advance the long overdue implementation of the optional protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

I turn to my constituency of Dún Laoghaire. I acknowledge the great work being done by people working for service providers such as St. John of God and also everyone working in school communities across my area. However, greater supports need to be provided to these front-line workers. We also need to see movement on waiting lists for assessments and therapies. They are far too long and this is having an impact on children and their families.

Finally, I would like to raise the need to increase capital budgets to provide more dedicated residential care settings. The problem is particularly acute in south County Dublin because there is a cluster of families living in the close confines of service providers.

I wish the Minister and her officials well as they go about their important work over the coming term.

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