John Dolan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is very difficult for me to honour the contributions, thoughtfulness, passion and interest of Members across the House over the past two hours.

The Minister acknowledged the knowledge of this issue in the Seanad, among Senators who have participated in it at local authority level and those with personal experience. He talked about the launch of the action plan next Tuesday being a good start. Things have to happen over the next two or three years. The demographic is going against us. It is good news in the sense that many people are living longer. Senator Hopkins and I have talked about people with strokes who would have died ten or 15 years ago and who now live, but do so with the legacy of it. They need support. We do not know who it will be tomorrow or next week but we know that will happen to some people. We need to outflank this issue, not just catch up. As a society, we have to get ahead of the problem. That is a stretch but it can be done and it is for the betterment of society. The Minister said the Government does give this issue priority and that commitment will be further reinforced next week. We look forward to that.

After the Second Stage debate on the Seanad Bill 2016 when people with knowledge and experience spoke there was a lovely example of people bringing experience to the debate on this motion. I need not have put so much energy into my original contribution because people took it and went with it and there was a great flow of information, ideas and commitment. The Minister offered to come back and take statements. It is very positive that the Minister and the Department are engaged on this issue.The Minister and the Department engaged, and if this afternoon is anything to go by it is not alone a case of their being engaged but of their being able to bring something to the table. There are many organisations present who are interested in the debate. We have a triumvirate of interests trying to find practical ways to coalesce. I accept there are tensions. Senator Ó Ríordáin mentioned some of them, for example, members of local authorities putting their money where their mouth is, and local communities saying something is very fine but they do not want it here. Senator Conway talked about the fact that we do not need tax cuts, we need public services. The services are not just for disabled people. Without doing any in-depth research I can tell the House that at least 50,000 people will have a disability of one kind or another between now and this day next year who do not have one today. They will not all need housing support. It is not a case of "the disabled", there are people who will become disabled and we must plan for that contingency. That is clearly what this is about.

I was very pleased to hear the Minister underline in his concluding remarks what the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, said two weeks ago, namely, about the commitment of the Government to ratification of Article 19 of the UN convention. I did not mention that point but other speakers did. I am happy to leave it at that and to thank everybody. We look forward to pursuing the matter and also to working with the officials in the Department and many others.