Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)

When I was first elected to the Dáil just over nine months ago, I was really heartened by the leadership shown by Deputy Mícheál Martin to appoint Deputy Norma Foley as Minister for children and disabilities, to have focus at Cabinet level and to have cross-departmental focus on disabilities. The new disability strategy is a welcome step forward and it is welcome that people of all levels of ability were included in the formulation of this strategy, but the test of this strategy will not just be the words on the page; it will be what happens in people's lives. Success will be children getting therapies in their schools without years of waiting. Success will be when young people can move into jobs with the right supports in place. Success will be when transport, housing and public spaces are designed so that accessibility is the norm and not an afterthought. Last week, I witnessed a positive example in St. Oliver's Special School in Tuam where I attended the opening of the school. It is an incredible investment in children and families and one we should all welcome. However, unless the supports are there for the school to expand, it will end up turning children away in the years ahead and this cannot be allowed to happen. I ask the Minister of State to engage with St. Oliver's Special School, which I know is under the Department of Education and Youth, but there is an opportunity with the HSE to provide additional space at the back of the site to allow more capacity in the school. Ability West is the patron of that school, and it is willing to engage on that issue.

Across County Galway there are other opportunities where proper planning and funding would change lives. At Toghermore campus in Tuam equine therapy has the potential to be transformative. I have met with representatives of Ability West and heard of their ambition for the site. That ambition they have needs to be matched with the ambition of Government to support it. We do not have equine therapy in the west. We have it in the east, south and midlands but e do not have it in the west, and we need to encourage that investment. Almost 1,000 hours of therapy could be provided weekly in north County Galway. Second, in Athenry, the Brothers of Charity and the HSE are jointly renting a facility that to this day remains vacant. They do not have the capital to turn it into a transformative educational and training facility. That is there and ready to go. I again ask the Minister of State to work with the Brothers of Charity in Galway to try to achieve that. I regularly visit the Hidden Gem cafe in Gort. It shows us what real inclusion looks like. Every time I visit, I see the dignity and community that comes when people with disabilities are at the heart of the project. It truly is a heartwarming experience. Every time I go in, I am greeted with a smile. It is incredible to experience that social inclusion and the positivity that emanates from it, and it should be replicated across the country.

I welcome that this strategy puts accountability at the highest level, with the Taoiseach and every Department responsible for delivery. That gives us a chance to move from aspiration to action, but it will only succeed if people with disabilities remain central to every decision. I welcome that element of this strategy, if resources of course match the ambition that Government has. Once Government puts the resources in, this plan has a real chance of being a game-changer, and that is what it makes it exciting. People with disabilities have contributed to this plan. They are involved in this plan, and they understand how this plan can and will work, and Government has the ambition to make it work. Disability policy in Ireland has come a long way but it still has a long way to go. Our responsibility now is to plan for the future where accessibility and inclusion are built in from the start, where no child is turned away and where every community is open, welcoming and equal. That is what success should look like and that is what this strategy must deliver.

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