John Dolan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Today is the tenth anniversary of Ireland signing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, whereby it gave a promise to the world. Our reputation is on the line but, ten years later, we have not ratified it. Many people outside the front gate today want to see ratification. We have just received the new social housing figures for people with disabilities. In 2003, just shy of 4,000 disabled people were on the social housing waiting list but now it is just shy of 6,000, an increase of almost 46%. There is a housing crisis for people with disabilities and it is not just a recent crisis. There are 11,000 people under the age of 65 in nursing homes because we shaved away community supports and services, particularly in the time of the recession. We are talking about getting people out of residential centres and we are just churning people around. The CSO poverty statistics came out on 1 February and, thankfully, things are getting better for the general population but they are getting significantly worse for people with disabilities and their families. The recession in the general economy ended in 2013 but it has not ended for people with disabilities or their families.

The Leader comes from Cork so he will know the expression "face the puck out". We need to face the challenge today. Successive Governments have taken the view, which one could challenge, that certain legislation needs to be passed before ratification but there is nothing in the convention that says a State cannot get on with improving the life status of people with disabilities before it ratifies. A budget is coming up in October and Ministers and people in Departments are trying to sort out what they want. The time is here to put a decent cross-departmental disability package in place covering health, poverty, transport, housing and employment issues. Employment is a chronic issue and there were people at the presentation yesterday morning with degrees coming out of their ears who cannot get a job.