Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for the opportunity to mark a major milestone - the recent launch of Ireland's National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030. It was fitting that we launched it in the Round Room in the Mansion House, the venue of the First Dáil, and it is here in the Chamber of the Thirty-fourth Dáil that, with the support of colleagues, some of the key aims and ambitions in the strategy will be actioned in the coming years.

I was really taken by the phrase used by David, one the participants in the awareness campaign for the national human rights strategy for disabled people. He said: "Listen to us instead of telling us what we need." For my part, this is at the very heart of what I want this strategy to be about, which is the aspirations, the ambitions and the lived experience of people with disabilities.

Every effort has been made to ensure people with disabilities steered, shaped and structured this strategy. There were focus groups, surveys, interviews and town hall meetings, online and in-person, throughout the country. Expert interviewers were also used to access the voices of people who are seldom heard from, such as children with disabilities and people with intellectual disabilities.

In some instances, people were able to communicate not just with mouth words but with facial expressions, body movements, sound and assistive technology. I know full well there are always means to communicate if we are truly prepared to listen and to hear. In reality, this strategy has come from the people who matter most: those who live every single day with disability.

After all of the consultation, what was identified? The top three issues were access to health and social care, having enough money to cover the extra costs related to disability, and being able to avail of and use public or private transportation easily. There is an unwavering focus in this strategy on clear and concrete actions which people with disabilities want prioritised, rather than just looking at it from an official and often siloed perspective. The objective is to look at issues from a whole-of-life perspective. As one disabled person brilliantly put it, “A person’s life is not divided into Government Departments." It is, therefore, fitting that the name given to this first ever national human rights strategy for disabled people was the name requested and promoted by people with disabilities themselves. They wanted a clear human rights focus in this strategy, beginning with the title. I know Shakespeare often mused, “What’s in a name?”, but I fundamentally believe, and agree with people with disabilities, that names, language and, in this instance, titles are important because they set the agenda and they carve out the vision we wish to achieve.

The strategy is structured around five core areas: inclusive learning and education; employment; independent living and active participation in society; well-being and health; and transport and mobility. I will briefly outline the ambition behind each of these areas. The first area, pillar 1, is inclusive learning and education. We have made progress in recent years in terms of education for people with additional needs. We have doubled the number of special classes to 3,500 and created 16 new special schools. We have over 22,000 special needs assistants and over 20,000 special education teachers. In total, that is more than 40,000 professionals dedicated to the area of working with young people with additional needs, but we need to do more. We absolutely need to do more. We know from OECD data that education gaps are at the root of persistent disability employment gaps. This pillar directly confronts that reality through starting early and staying the course. By 2030, we want to see significantly improved access, greater transition supports across all education levels and, ultimately, higher rates of achievement for disabled learners.

Pillar 2 is employment. This is about closing the disability employment gap decisively. We are committed to removing systemic barriers and creating real, sustainable opportunities for disabled people to earn, to contribute and to thrive in the workforce.

The next area identified in the strategy is pillar 3, independent living and active participation in society This puts independence, choice and autonomy at the centre of policy. Disabled people must have the right and the means to live where and how they choose, to participate fully in their communities and to lead lives of their own making. That means better access to housing, support services and opportunities for engagement in culture, sport and civic life.

Pillar 4, well-being and health, will improve access to inclusive, integrated health services from early intervention to mental health supports to health promotion. This goal is clear: better outcomes, higher quality of life, and services that empower disabled people to live fully and to live well.

The final pillar, transport and mobility, is about one of the most critical enablers of independence, namely, mobility. According to the 2022 census, difficulties with transport and leisure participation are the most common challenges faced by disabled people. We will eliminate those barriers. By 2030, disabled people must be able to move freely and confidently, whether by bus, train, car or foot, in environments designed with inclusion in mind and policy will be shaped in full consultation with disabled people themselves.

As a country, as a republic and as a society, we must do better for people with disabilities. Tá sé thar am dúinn dul i ngleic leis na deacrachtaí agus na dúshláin a bhaineann le míchumas. Tugann an straitéis náisiúnta um chearta an duine do dhaoine faoi mhíchumas an deis dúinn tús nua a chur chun cinn. Guthanna comhionanna, gníomhartha comhionanna, todhchaí chomhionann; equal voices, equal actions, equal futures - this is the motto chosen by disabled people themselves for this new strategy. Their message is clear: they want to be treated the same as everybody else. Not differently, not better and not worse but the same as everyone else - equal voices, equal actions, equal futures. Time and again, people with disabilities have shared with me their strong view of “nothing about us without us.” How right they are. People with disabilities have been at the heart of developing this strategy. They have carved and shaped every aspect of this strategy. That is a first in this country and it is an important first. I am determined that not just should they carve out the strategy, but that people with disabilities should be at the heart of its implementation. As a consequence, people with disabilities will sit on the various implementation groups for the strategy. That is as it should be. The Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin, will also chair the delivery committee, which will report to him every six months. This is in conjunction with the dedicated unit within the Department of the Taoiseach, the Committee on Disability Matters and, of course, the implementation groups. This is where the accountability will be, ultimately through an Taoiseach meeting every six months for updates, reports and progress. The National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030 can be a game-changer for disabled people in this country. I look forward to working with each one of you in this Chamber and, indeed, everyone outside of this Chamber, to make sure it does what it sets out to do: equal voices, equal actions, equal futures.

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