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

I thank the Senator both for her patience and for raising the issue. I did listen to the evidence given. One could not but be touched by what we heard. I would like to thank Senator White for raising the issue on the Commencement of the Seanad today.

In addressing the specifics of the question raised in the Commencement matter, the Minister for Health does not classify or recognise specific medical illnesses or conditions as a disability. There are a number of definitions of disability that are used for particular purposes, for example, the Disability Act, the Education for Persons with Special Needs Act, the Equal Status Act, the Employment Equality Acts and the census. In addition, there are definitions of disability in use for determining qualifying criteria for income supports such as domiciliary care allowance and disability allowance. These definitions describe disability in terms of an individual’s functional ability in his or her environment, rather than a medical diagnosis or condition. The Government currently provides funding of approximately €1.57 billion to the disability services programme as described in the HSE’s national plan for 2016.

Persons with disabilities, including those who are blind, those who are deaf, and those who are both deaf and blind can access the broad range of acute hospital, general practitioner, primary care and community-based services, as well as specialist disability services. I would like to outline for the Seanad the specialist disability services provided for people who are deaf or hard of hearing and for those who are blind or vision-impaired. Services for blind and vision-impaired people are provided as part of the HSE’s physical and sensory disability services and are delivered directly and in partnership with a number of voluntary service providers, including the National Council for the Blind of Ireland, the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind, the National Association of Housing for the Visually Impaired, ChildVision and Fighting Blindness. The HSE community audiology services provide assessment and rehabilitation for medical card holders and, separately, for children. The audiology services provided include audiological assessment, hearing aid fitting and management advice, and advice on the use of assistive listening devices. In addition, the service provides onward referral to acute hospital specialist services, the cochlear implant programme, speech and language therapy or other services as appropriate.

There are a number of voluntary organisations providing specialist disability services to people who are deaf or hard of hearing including DeafHear, the Catholic Institute for Deaf People, the Irish Hard of Hearing Association and the Irish Deaf Society. DeafHear is the largest provider of such services and receives over €4 million in funding from the HSE. The services offered by these organisations include family support services, assistive technology and assistive listening devices, communication therapy and lip-reading classes, sign language classes, and a mental health and deafness service. These organisations receive funding from the HSE.

Along with the broad range of acute hospital services, general practitioner and community care services and the specialist services outlined above, the HSE also supports the Anne Sullivan Foundation for Deafblind. The foundation is funded by the HSE under section 39 of the Health Act 2004 and provides residential services for people who are deaf-blind. The foundation receives over €1.9 million from the HSE for the provision of specialist services to people who are deaf-blind.The foundation received over €1.9 million from the HSE for the provision of specialist services to people who are deaf-blind. People who are deaf-blind receive a wide range of health and professional social care services from the HSE. They attend general practitioners and specialists in acute hospitals to provide for their clinical needs. In addition, specialist services and supports are provided by the HSE and a range of agencies and organisations.

I know Senator White will understand this, because she has heard it before. Not a month goes by when we are not approached and asked to define a different area differently or in a specific way. Most of us would know off the top of our heads what these areas are. It is our intention to provide a service with a broad range. If Niall Keane from DeafHear were sitting in the Gallery today - I am sure he will be listening in another way - I imagine he would agree. I have always believed that deafness is different. It is isolating and it keeps people separate from the rest of the community. However, we must ensure that the services provided have a broad range and that people need not fit into a particular category to access a given service. That is important and it has always been my belief that this is the best approach when it comes to disability.