Dáil debates
Thursday, 7 October 2021
Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions
Rights of People with Disabilities
11:10 am
Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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102. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the details of Ireland’s plans to sign the optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48707/21]
Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I believe Deputy Calleary is authorised to ask this question.
Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Today, on "Stars in Their Eyes", I will be Deputy Michael Moynihan. I would like information on our plan as per the programme for Government commitment to sign the optional protocol to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this very important question. He is quite correct in saying this is part of our commitments in the programme for Government.
The optional protocol to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is an international treaty that establishes two procedures aimed at strengthening the implementation and monitoring of the convention. The first is an individual communication procedure allowing individuals to bring petitions to the committee claiming breaches of their rights; the second is an inquiry procedure giving the committee authority to undertake inquiries of grave or systematic violations of the convention.
The programme for Government reiterates the commitment to ratify the optional protocol after the first reporting cycle. At a recent sitting of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Disability Matters, the Secretary General of my Department advised members that both I and my colleague, the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, are open to an earlier ratification of the optional protocol. Our intention is to prepare for ratification of the optional protocol once the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 has been commenced and the decision support service is operational. This is scheduled to take place in June or July of next year. A detailed process is needed to ensure Ireland's legislative provisions and redress mechanisms are sufficient to meet the obligations that will arise once Ireland opts into the optional protocol. The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth will work intensively to ensure that we can meet these obligations.
The Government recognises the importance of ensuring people with disabilities have all the appropriate channels to vindicate their rights. I am advancing the assisted decision-making (capacity) (amendment) Bill, which will include provisions necessary to enable the reform of capacity law contained in the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 to become operational. The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, has separately announced a review of the equality legislation, which prohibits discrimination, including against persons with disabilities. The review is intended to assess whether the equality legislation continues to be effective in protecting people against discrimination. The Minister will bring forward legislative proposals if necessary thereafter to strengthen the provisions of this legislation.
Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State and acknowledge her work in this field since her appointment not just as a Minister of State but as a spokesperson on disability matters back in 2016. Now, as part of the Government, she is actioning much of what she called for then. Is there a timeline on earlier ratification or is it completely dependent on the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act being commenced? She has indicated that this might happen by June or July next year. Is it a firm commitment that this will be done before the end of next year's summer session or will it depend on the work being done by both the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, in the Department?
The Minister of State knows directly the frustration of people with disabilities and those with additional needs because we are signing up to all these charters but that does not make a difference to their daily experience of services. While these are all gold-standard flag-waving occasions, the lived experience of people with disabilities and those with additional needs is worsening. I acknowledge in particular the work being done by the Minister of State in clearing assessment waiting lists because children with disabilities and their parents are continuing to go through the wringer on a daily basis despite all of what we are signing up to.
Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy again. There are three elements to this, with the first being the securing of funding last year in the budget. The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, was successful in doing that and the funding ensures we can recruit staff to work on the decision support services. That is in train and the funding, which was in excess of €3 million, was secured. That work is under way to ensure we deliver on the target of having a decision support service in place by June to July of next year.
The next element is the legislation being brought forward in this session that amends the 2015 Bill. That will put a legal footing in place. We need to have those elements in place. The third element is the publication of the UN report going before the Cabinet.
We are on target, at this moment in time, for next June or July. Once those three pathways are cleared, we then will be in a position to follow up on what the Secretary General said before the Oireachtas committee on working towards the publication of the optional protocol.
11:20 am
Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the fact that the Minister of State is on target. I also do not expect either her or the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, to give us sight of the budget. I acknowledge the extra investment but it is not being seen on the ground. We have had this conversation. It seems to go into a big black hole and people's lived experience continues to worsen and disimprove. When the budget is published there will, possibly, be extra resources, but where are they going?
Members of the National Federation of Voluntary Service Providers tell me that it is in the worst state it has been in for many years. They have not had the capacity to fundraise as a consequence of Covid. That fundraising was the difference between them being able to provide a service and being able to assist families in very hard situations. We will have massive amounts of millions and billions of euro announced on Tuesday and then, ultimately, as part of a service plan, but we need to see where that is being spent. We need to see if that will help our communities and families.
As the Minister of State finalises her budget this weekend, I ask her to keep that in mind. Billions mean nothing if people are not getting respite, if their child cannot get a place in school and they cannot go to their local town, as we saw during Make Way Day. Billions mean nothing if they cannot get a service.
Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for giving me the opportunity to speak on budgetary matters. My budget is not finalised at this moment in time. I am still in negotiation with the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly, for my fair share for disability. The Deputy is correct; intervention has to be the priority. There is no point in clearing an assessment of needs waiting list if I cannot deliver on intervention. I need more money for therapists. I need to build on the 100 therapists I got last year and the 85 earlier this year. I need to build on that.
At the same time, we are coming out of Covid and we are still not out of it. Respite was closed for most of that period, especially for young people. We need to build on existing capacity. Last year, I secured nine houses in the budget. Eight of them are built and are going into operation, while the ninth is happening in December. I need to double that because I saw how successful it was. It released a valve and gave breathing space to families. This time, my ambition is to have nine houses for children and nine for adults. That is building capacity into the system without, at the same time, forcing people into full-time residential care.