Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator John Dolan for his best wishes and I congratulate him on being elected to the Seanad. I have known John for many years and I am aware of the magnificent work he has done with the Disability Federation of Ireland. It is very important that people with disabilities have a voice in the Seanad. I wish the Senator well in the future.

I thank Senator Dolan for raising this very important topic, which is also very important to me. I am delighted to have the opportunity to address the issue of Ireland's ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities and to provide an update on the work under way to meet our ratification targets.

The Roadmap to Ratification published by the previous Government last October detailed all the remaining legislative barriers to ratification and the work that would be undertaken to overcome them. It also set out a clear timeframe, and I can confirm that we are on track to achieve our target of ratification of both the convention and its optional protocol by the end of this year. That is something I am working very hard to achieve.

Much has been achieved already in terms of overcoming the obstacles to ratification outlined in the roadmap, with the enactment of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 and the amendments to the Mental Health Act 2001, which removed the authority to administer electroconvulsive therapy or medicine, after a three-month period, to an involuntary patient with capacity who is unwilling to consent to the treatment.

The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015 was passed by the Seanad on 26 January this year. When enacted, the Bill will reform section 5 of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 1993 to facilitate the full participation in family life of persons with intellectual disabilities and the full expression of their human rights. Achieving the necessary balance between those rights and ensuring appropriate protection is crucial.

Work is also under way on drawing up a disability/equality (miscellaneous provisions) Bill to progress the outstanding miscellaneous legislative amendments necessary to proceed to ratification. The Bill will address issues such as the convention's requirements regarding reasonable accommodation and deprivation of liberty, as well as removing archaic references in existing legislation relating to mental health. We recently presented the general scheme of the Bill to the Oireachtas for pre-legislative scrutiny.

To address Senator Dolan's point about resources for implementation, let me be clear: we need more resources for disability as disability services have taken a hit in the past seven or eight years. The Government and I will do our best to deliver on that. My priorities are clear. Underlining this Government's commitment to the disability sector, I announced last week the provision of an additional €31 million for disability services in 2016. This includes €3 million for new initiatives, including an additional provision for services to meet the needs of school leavers with disabilities and the anticipated cost of a number of emergency residential placements arising this year. These are the issues I found when I took office. These were the priority issues that had to be dealt with immediately. However, ratification of the convention is a separate issue that is not contingent on resources and does not require additional funding. When we ratify the convention by the end of this year, we will be making a solemn commitment to the international community that our body of domestic legislation is fully in line with the convention and fully meets the standards required under the convention.

Issues around the allocation of resources will always be subject to debate and are a matter for the individual Departments involved. Service standards and funding are subject to what the convention describes as "progressive realisation" and to the budgetary decisions of the Government of the day. It is my job to push for those budgetary decisions and those services.

The programme for Government sets out a range of commitments to improve the lives of people with disabilities. The Government supports - and I will be monitoring the position with regard to the 2017 Estimates, on which I have already started work - an increase in disability benefit and disability allowance, carer's benefit and carer's allowance and the blind person's pension. I am committed to implementing those policies. Legislation is being drafted to introduce a new mobility scheme, which I will have ready in the next couple of weeks, and the Government supports further increases in the housing adaption grants.

Work will continue on moving people with disabilities who are living in congregated settings to appropriate accommodation where they can live independently. I take this opportunity to announce that additional funding of €20 million will be made available to facilitate the removal of people from congregated settings. I will supply a list of the institutions that will benefit from that €20 million later. The money in question will enable people with intellectual or physical disabilities who are living in institutions to move to appropriate accommodation. In other words, we will take them out of institutions and put them in smaller community homes with a maximum of four people and with the necessary support staff and services. That €20 million will be spent in the coming weeks.

I thank Senator Dolan for raising this issue. I would like to change the mindset in that when we talk about people with disabilities we are talking about our daughters, brothers, sisters or neighbours. We are talking about citizens of this State and protecting their rights. I am determined that this UN convention will be ratified by Christmas.