Caít Keane (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Labour Party group for putting down this motion. It is an important debate and I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, and welcome her here. I have heard Deputy Lynch speak on this issue so often that it is, I would say, one of her major priorities, although she has many in these trying circumstances.

A quote, "Help me to do it by myself," would be most apt today because that is what constitutes independent living. People do not want everything done for them but they want help to do it by themselves. We may take that message from all of the Members who have spoken here today.

We always hear as well that one should give a leg up rather than a hand out. This is demonstrated here today by this magnificent document produced by the Centres for Independent Living, whose representatives, along with those of the Disability Federation of Ireland, I welcome here today. We can see that shining through, not alone in the document itself but in the life stories of persons with disabilities who have benefitted from personal assistance. They say a picture tells 1,000 words, and there are many pictures in this that do so. One, in particular, came to mind, namely, that of the person from Clare who was assisted by his personal assistant to go back into education and then take up gainful employment. As we will have seen in our own personal lives and in dealing with others, those who are helped, through education or whatever, help themselves and do not become dependent on the State. Sometimes a little makes a considerable difference. The message, if we looked at it that way, is "a little means a lot".

One of the previous speakers stated it is not an issue only for one Department. As illustrated, it transcends right across every Department. Most of the Members who spoke here today mentioned the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the optional protocol, which was adopted in 2006. The Republic of Ireland signed the convention. I will not go into it as Senator Hildegarde Naughton has given the history of it in detail. It is a long time in coming. I note the former Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, took it to heart with the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Bill 2013 that was spoken of by Senator Naughton. He, along with the Minister of State, has done significant work on that, and I welcome that.

That statutory framework is definitely an issue. Words are cheap but when it is written in statute, that gives power and power means enablement. Knowing one's rights is one matter but having rights is another. It is important to ensure that the statutory framework that has been spoken of comes to fore.

The philosophy of independent living speaks for itself.

Money is one thing. It is a lot and Senator MacSharry spoke a great deal about what the Government is not doing. However, a great deal more also could have been done in the boom times when there was a lot of money around. I would have liked many things to have been done that were not done. However, money is not everything and there is much that can be done. While everybody must cut the cloth according to the size of the budget one has at the moment, if every Department worked together to ensure it had a philosophy, such a philosophy, as well as the money, would do a lot.

In the area of education in particular, when one speaks about education and making available facilities, I refer to the philosophy the Minister of State herself is driving, namely, value for money and the policy review to let the person decide the services for himself or herself, rather than dictating to the people what services they need. Such people know best what they need, like the policy of the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, of the money following the patient. In this case, they are not patients but are able-bodied and willing for work, albeit with just a little help. Were money to follow the patient and were the person himself or herself to make the decision, that also really would make major inroads into the position under consideration today regarding the assisted decision-making process. I have long pages of notes on this issue but will skip them because much already has been said about its educational aspects. However, one point is that when Members discussed the issue of disability in the Chamber previously, it was noted the Minister, Deputy Quinn, had requested the National Economic and Social Council, NESC, to establish a working group. I understand it was established to consider a tailored allocation model for education in respect of these sectors of society.

I will take this opportunity to welcome the progress being made by the Government to empower people with disabilities, through the Minister of State's own area of responsibility, to make decisions about their own services through the planned introduction of the money-follows-the-client system. It is utterly unacceptable in the 21st century that people have no say in how their budget is managed themselves. They are as well able to decide as is the Minister or am I where and how that money should be spent. I believe it would be spent a lot better, were decisions made by the people themselves rather than decisions being made for them. They should choose the services of which they wish to avail rather than having the State or any such body make that choice for them. The old broken model of providing funding directly to service providers is incredibly restrictive and is a model that does not lead or give choice to the person availing of whatever service, be it a care service or whatever.

I note that funding in respect of the housing model was announced recently by the Minister of State's colleague, the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan. I understand that €10 million was made available a couple of months ago for housing for people with disabilities, which is welcome, particularly in these stringent economic times. Everybody needs a good house and a good home because unless one has those, one has nothing. In addition, however, a home often can become a prison if people cannot leave it. They need just a little help to avail of services outside, even if it is only for communication with the outside. This leads on to better health, better involvement with the community and everything else that goes with it. Someone mentioned sport earlier and Members have seen what people can do for themselves in this regard, as well as what Eunice Shriver Kennedy did for the Special Olympics. Members will have seen how it means a lot when people are helped a little. I note the Acting Chairman is signalling to me. This is an important debate and I am delighted the Labour Party tabled this motion. Hopefully, further improvements will be seen in the future.