Averil Power (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move:

That Seanad Éireann: recognises -

- the fact that there are over 600,000 people with disabilities in Ireland;
- the deep concern among those with disabilities that services affecting them are being cut or reduced further; and
- that it is unfair and unjust to cut services for people with disabilities;

notes pledges in the Programme for Government to -

- ensure that the quality of life of people with disabilities is enhanced and that resources allocated reach the people who need them; and
- facilitate people with disabilities in achieving a greater level of participation in employment, training and education;

deplores the -

- cut in the respite care grant in the last budget;
- cuts in resource teachers and special needs assistants;
- lack of further education opportunities for young adults with intellectual disabilities;
- cuts to St Michael's House; and
- delays in processing of applications for disability allowance and benefit and for the carers allowance;

and calls on the Government to provide the appropriate funding and services necessary to honour all its commitments to people with disabilities.

As the motion before the House points out, the programme for Government made a number of specific commitments not only to protect but also to enhance services for people with disabilities. The reality, however, has been very different. Over the past two years, there have been major cuts in services for people with disabilities. Some, such as the €300 annual reduction in the respite care grant, which was implemented last year, have been up-front budget cuts, but others have been stealth cuts. For example, capping special needs assistants at a time of rising enrolments has amounted to an effective cut, whatever the Government's counter-motion wishes to claim.

No matter how many times the Government tries to pretend otherwise, putting a cap on the number of special needs assistants at a time when the number of kids with special needs in schools is increasing means that schools are not in a position to give children the services they need and to which they are entitled. All Senators have met families affected by this cut in SNAs. Last night I attended a public meeting organised by the INTO in Ayrfield and it is organising similar meetings across the country in the run-up to the budget. At that meeting, a number of parents spoke very emotionally about how special needs cuts have affected their children, both in terms of SNAs and the reduction in resource teaching hours.

Despite the row-back by the Government a couple of months ago, resource teaching hours have been reduced by 15% over two years. The proposal made a few months ago to reduce this by a further 10% was overturned, but the previous cuts still stand. The result is that a child with autism who was entitled to five hours of resource teaching is now getting only 85% of that. This makes a huge difference in terms of that child's ability to engage in education and the opportunity to get the extra support he or she needs for real inclusion. From the point of view of the teachers, they are left in a heartbreaking situation in which a child has been brought into the mainstream classroom so as to have the opportunities that come with that, but that child is not getting the support he or she needs to avail of those opportunities. This is heartbreaking not just for parents but for teachers also.

We have also seen a wide range of other cuts. For example, funding for university access programmes for students with disabilities was cut by 20% in 2012. Provision for school leavers with intellectual disabilities has also been cut, as highlighted by Inclusion Ireland. I am aware that Members from all parties attended the Inclusion Ireland briefing, not just this summer but also the previous year, where they expressed their concerns about whether there would be sufficient places for school leavers this September.

We all took at face value the Government's announcement last year as bona fide that that situation would not occur again and it would ensure sufficient resources were put in place so that young people with intellectual disabilities who are finishing the second level system would have adequate education, training places or day placements to give them the same opportunities every other young person takes for granted. When the latter finish their leaving certificate they decide whether they wish to go on to the third level and study at a PLC college or use other further education services - a range of services is offered to them, whereas children with intellectual disabilities do not have that choice.

I have written to the Minister of State at the Department of Justice and Equality, Deputy Lynch, about the matter over the past couple of months. The Government's response is that placements are offered to all the young people affected. However, what is happening on the ground is that young people who would have previously got full-time placements are being given only part-time hours, which is woefully inadequate. They have no input into the type of services they are given, so they are being asked to fit into what is on offer rather than what suits their needs and abilities. The situation is deeply upsetting for the young people and their families.

Earlier this year, the Government also announced that the mobility allowance is to be discontinued without putting in place an alternative. That is another decision that does not seem to have been thought through. It took people with severe disabilities protesting outside Leinster House before the Government would even listen to what impact the policy would have.

We have tabled this debate in advance of the budget to flag these issues because we do not want to be in a position in a couple of weeks time when Ministers make similar cuts only for them then to say they had not really thought about how they would affect people but that they would now consider that. We want the issues to be on the agenda. We hope that Members of all parties will lobby Ministers over the coming weeks to ensure that that is the case. I know that some Fine Gael and Labour Senators were deeply uncomfortable with having to support last year's cut in the respite care grant. We had an emotional debate in this House about that cut - the vote was very close. Labour lost one of its Senators over the issue, which was regrettable. Senator Gilroy might disagree - perhaps that is why he is smiling at me or perhaps he wants to lose more Senators.