Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

We believe it is the last barrier to ratifying the convention. I hope, after it is passed, that we will be in a position to ratify it. I am sure people tell us about other items of legislation needed. I am grateful for the opportunity to address the House and thank the Senators for proposing the motion. it is a special day for Special Olympics Ireland. Since it was set up in 1978, the work it has done in promoting sport and competition for people with intellectual disabilities has been immeasurable. It has grown to the point where it currently has almost 11,000 registered athletes participating in 15 sports in 409 affiliated groups throughout the island of Ireland. The athletes are supported by their families and a team of more than 25,000 volunteers who give of their time to help out at sports and fundraising events. It is not just once every four years.

The philosophy of Special Olympics which emphasises the ability rather than the disability of people with special needs has changed the way all of us look at the people around us. Special Olympics Ireland plays a pivotal role in helping to break down the barriers that often prevent people with disabilities from participating in sport. It does a wonderful job in carrying out this task and deserves both our congratulations and sincere gratitude. While Special Olympics is, first and foremost, a sports organisation for people with an intellectual disability, it provides athletes with far more than the physical benefits of sport. It is about fun, friendships and team spirit. It is about a feeling of belonging and, ultimately, improving quality of life. It changes lives. Through sport, athletes develop both physically and emotionally; they make new friends, realise their dreams and know they can fit in. Special Olympics enables them to achieve and win not only in sport but in life, too.

The health, educational and social gains that are part of the ethos of Special Olympics Ireland's overall programme must be acknowledged in addition to the measures taken to help keep all Special Olympics athletes healthy through a number of health initiatives, including information on medical requirements and first aid. The health promotion programme, which offers health screening, is also to be commended. We should also praise the focus on diet and methods of staying healthy, in which initiative I was involved.

The Irish Sports Council, which is funded by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, provides funding to Special Olympics Ireland through its programme of core grant funding for national governing bodies of sport. I take very much on board what Senator MacSharry said about the reduction since 2008, when our economy was beginning to implode. People should remember that. In this House I have never got political about such matters, and I try desperately not to do so in the Chamber to which I am elected, but we must remind ourselves about how we got here. Special Olympics Ireland received €1.2 million in funding from the council this year. I am pleased to say that, despite reductions in the council's overall core funding provision for sports bodies in recent years, it has made a particular effort to maintain funding for Special Olympics Ireland and has kept this year's funding at the same level as in 2012. Special Olympics Ireland has been the single largest beneficiary of core grant funding from the Irish Sports Council since 2007, having received over €14.6 million between 2007 and 2013.

The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport has provided grant funding to Special Olympics Ireland in the latest round of the sports capital programme. A grant of €26,153 was allocated in 2012 for the purchase of equipment. Furthermore, the National Aquatic Centre at the National Sports Campus in Abbotstown was developed and opened in 2003 to host the swimming events of the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games, the first time the games were held outside of the United States. That is a credit to the organisation.

Funding of €82,000 was provided by the HSE in 2012 to assist Special Olympics Ireland in meeting the costs associated with the programmes it provides. This funding was provided through grant aid agreements under section 39 of the Health Act 2004 and through national lottery grants.

Irish teams have performed very successfully at both the summer and winter Special Olympics World Games. This success is a testament to the excellent work done by Special Olympics Ireland in training and managing the athletes and in organising their attendance at the games. The 2003 games were, of course, very special for Ireland and left a wonderful legacy. At the very successful games, approximately 7,000 athletes from 150 countries competed in 18 official disciplines, and three exhibition sports. Some 30,000 volunteer officials and support staff assisted in the running of the games.

This year, the tenth anniversary of the hosting of the games, I am very pleased to acknowledge the excellent work that Special Olympics Ireland continues to do for people with intellectual disabilities. The board of Special Olympics Ireland, CEO Matt English and everyone involved in Special Olympics Ireland deserve great credit for their wonderful work. I congratulate in particular all of the Special Olympics athletes who have represented Ireland over the years. They have always been marvellous ambassadors for Ireland, representing both Ireland and Irish sport with honour and pride, and they have certainly enhanced Ireland's sporting reputation.

From a wider perspective, people with disabilities can face challenges when it comes to participating in many everyday activities. Much in the way Special Olympics Ireland has played a pivotal role in breaking down the barriers that prevent people with disabilities from participating in sport, a successful response from and development of a society that values, without distinction, people with disabilities depends on the willingness of every social sector to break down barriers to ensure a better quality of life for people with disabilities.

In this regard, the national disability strategy has a key role to play. The strategy was launched in September 2004 and its implementation continues to be the focus of Government policy for the sector. There have been many important developments to improve the lives of people with disabilities over recent years, but a specific implementation plan for the strategy had not previously been developed. The Government is now addressing this and the programme for Government commits to the publication of a national disability strategy implementation plan. The Government is committed to pursuing this agenda to achieve even greater progress in the next three years.

I established and am chairing the national disability strategy implementation group, which developed the implementation plan for progressing the strategy and is also tasked with monitoring its implementation. The implementation group comprises the senior officials group on disability, representing all relevant Departments and agencies across the system of government. A broad variety of representatives of disability organisations and the National Disability Authority have also been appointed to the group, as have a number of individuals with disabilities who have been appointed in their personal capacity to bring their lived experience to the group. I often believe we have so many officials and experts telling people what they should have that we do not actually ask them.

To achieve further consultation with people with disabilities, the end users of the services provided, I also set up a disability forum under the stewardship of the National Disability Authority. The first meeting of the forum was held on 19 June last year and a report of the views expressed form part of the considerations of the implementation group in regard to actions in the implementation plan.

To achieve our objectives, collaboration is fundamental, and this approach will continue in advancing the implementation plan and achieving the commitments made. Through engaging with the disability sector and building on the traditional problem-solving and constructive approach of the community and voluntary sector, the aim of the implementation plan is to make progress in achieving our common objectives. More targeted, innovative and flexible services, designed and delivered on the basis of the evidence drawn from systematic evaluation, will help ensure that available resources are used to deliver services that meet the needs of the community as efficiently and effectively as possible. Acknowledging the current economic climate and diminishing resources available across the system of government, this implementation plan seeks to ensure available resources are used to best effect in ensuring people with disabilities have more choice and control in their lives and in realising their aspirations. The plan was agreed at the meeting of the implementation group on 20 July 2013 and I am pleased to say that, with the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, I will be bringing it to the Government next week. The plan will be published on relevant Departments' websites as soon as possible thereafter.

Another positive development for people with disabilities of which the Senators may be aware is the approval by the Government last week of the publication of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Bill. It is actually due to be published today. The purpose of the Bill is to provide a modern statutory framework that supports decision-making by adults and enables them to retain the greatest amount of autonomy possible where they lack or may shortly lack capacity. That applies to each of us. I am not certain it is ever right to have this issue placed in the middle of a discussion on disability. It will apply to every single one of us as we age, bearing in mind what can happen to us in life.

The Bill proposes to change the existing law on decision-making capacity, shifting from the current all-or-nothing status approach to a flexible, functional one whereby capacity is assessed on an issue and time-specific basis. The adoption of a functional approach to capacity, tailor-made to an individual and as provided for in section 3 of the Bill, is a key element in modernising the law on capacity. The Bill will replace the ward of court system for adults, which is the existing mechanism for managing the affairs of persons whose decision-making capacity is impaired. The objective is to provide support in decision-making and legal protection for persons with impaired decision-making ability, such as people with intellectual disabilities, those suffering from dementia or mental illness, and persons who have acquired brain injuries through trauma or accident. In view of the growing number of people who may need assistance at some stage in their lives with decision-making, the provisions of the Bill have the potential to be of relevance to most families.

As I previously outlined, a major issue for this Government is to ensure that we get the best outcome for people with disabilities from the resources we put in. With regard to the health sector, I published the report Value for Money and Policy Review of Disability Services in Ireland on 20 July 2012.

The objective of the review was to assess how well existing health and personal social services for people with disabilities were meeting their objectives and to recommend how these services should be delivered in the future. I am confident that many of the most fundamental changes needed to support the full participation of people with disabilities in society will be achieved through the implementation of the review.

From the outset, public consultation was an important feature of this exercise. The review team listened carefully to what people had to say and to the advice of the expert reference group on disability policy and the thoroughly researched advice provided by the National Disability Authority. Following these consultations, the team recommended a significant restructuring of the disability services programme, in which Senator Labhrás Ó Murchú will have a particular interest. This restructuring, it recommended, should be achieved through a migration from an approach that was predominantly organised around group-based service delivery towards a model of person-centred, individually chosen supports, and through implementation of a more effective method of assessing need, allocating resources and monitoring resource use. These changes will represent a seismic shift in how services are funded and provided and will, ultimately, result in shifting choice and control from professionals and administrators to where they rightfully belong, namely, with the individual with a disability and his or her family.

As the next step in the process of translating the recommendations in the review into concrete actions, I published the national implementation framework for the value for money review in February this year. I am in the process of establishing a steering group to monitor implementation of that review and report to me on progress. The Health Service Executive has also made provision in its national service plan for moving forward on key recommendations this year.

I again thank the Senators for proposing the motion and acknowledge the considerable contribution made to the lives of people with disabilities by Special Olympics Ireland. It is imperative that we all play our part to ensure the quality of life of people with disabilities is enhanced, inclusion for all becomes a reality and every individual is supported to reach his or her full potential. The Government is committed to working collaboratively to realise the vision of a more inclusive society for all, where services and supports meet the needs of individual citizens.

I hope the Acting Chairman will accommodate me in making a final and very important point.