Labhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. This debate is about social justice, not charity. My first response when I meet people with a disability is one of empathy, quickly followed by admiration. When one sees the achievements of people with a disability in athletics, academia, technology, the arts and many other areas, one realises their tenacity of character and the great efforts they make to overcome the problems that beset them, more so than other sections of society. That admiration changes to sorrow when I meet members who are obliged to come to the gates of Leinster House to demand the very basic social justice we enjoy in our lives. I begin to realise that after all the efforts they have made and despite the morale boosters they have been for us, they are challenged by the very system that should be supporting them. This must be a wake up call.

We do not gain anything from making this a political issue. It is not an issue on which the Minister or a Government should in any way be held up to ridicule or otherwise. This issue belongs to all of us as a people. The fact that over 18.5% of the population experience some level of disability should remind us of how big this issue is. The 2011 report of the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, leaves us in no doubt of the inadequacies and omissions in this area. Clearly, there is a definite correlation between educational disadvantage and disability. That is the starting point. If one is disabled, one can automatically be challenged when it comes to education. That is not to take from any of the achievements to date. Senator Martin Conway might be correct that it might not be due to financial resources alone, but, for whatever reason, I do not believe there is a proper implementation plan. We should set about putting an implementation plan in place, but only do so after intensive and direct consultation with the disability sector. That is vital.

Second, whatever resources are required by the voluntary organisations must be made available in the first instance. These resources are minuscule in the context of the total issue we are discussing, but these organisations, together with the people with a disability, are at the coalface every day. Each time I listen to a radio or television programme on which this matter is discussed these organisations tend to be non-confrontational. All they are seeking is that people with a disability be given their entitlements. We are facing the introduction of the budget shortly. The minimum that should happen in it is that there should be no cutbacks in this area. I do not believe one would meet a single citizen who, if asked, would wish to see money in the the sector cut by €1. Why is that? If 18.5% of the population have some level of disability, it means that virtually every family or an extended part of the family has someone with a disability. Therefore, we are all fully aware that what we are discussing is the reality on the ground.

If we are to discuss having an implementation plan, the statistics are clear. The number of people who do not finish their schooling or programme of education is four times lower among able-bodied people. That is 25%. The number of people with a disability who do not finish their primary education is a very stark statistic in its own right. What we must consider is social justice, which it is unquestionably. Other sections of society have special measures created for them for economic or industrial, housing or other reasons. There are many such instances. There is nothing unusual in looking at a specific sector and deciding that it requires special attention.

I have a suggestion for the Minister, although, given his background in education, we do not have to tell him what the position is. However, even if it is not necessarily part of his portfolio - perhaps it is - there is an opportunity for him to tell the Government that each Member of this House strongly believes there should be no further cutbacks and that, where there are opportunities to reverse the cutbacks that have taken place, it should avail of them. It is vital that we deal with this matter, not because we all have an opportunity to speak here and perhaps appear on television or in the newspapers.

It is not an issue that will go away tomorrow. Nor is it one that will be resolved unless we are prepared to be courageous and say, "Yes, that sector has been left behind." Now is the opportunity to redress that. If that message goes forth from all political parties, one would hope that the people who hold the purse strings have no less compassion than ourselves and are in exactly the same situation. I hope that message will be successful and that we will see an improvement in resources to provide every opportunity that those people require. Above all else, we must afford them the social justice to which they are entitled.