John Dolan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Protocol requires me to address the Chair, and rightly so, but my instinct is to address the Visitors Gallery. I will do everything I can to help to progress this Bill through the Seanad. I am committed to it and I welcome it. I have no doubt that the Bill will be passed and that we will have an implementation strategy in relation to this matter, but I am not sure we will get the promise of it delivered. That is the risk. I will be happy to be 100% wrong in this regard but it is better to raise these concerns, which are based on my many years of experience dealing with disability-related strategies. This is a night of hope and I do not wish to be anything but hopeful in relation to this Bill, but we need to face up to the risks that are in our system. I do not believe that the Minister or anybody else involved in this area wishes other than to see this happen.

The Minister stated that strong collaboration and joined-up thinking will be required across a number of Departments and stakeholders to ensure the very best legislative solutions are provided. That is an issue that has dogged public services in this country since Basil Chubb wrote about it in his book almost 50 years ago. We still have, in effect, 15 different governments, as he described it. We talk about joined-up thinking but it rarely happens, which is a real concern in relation to this issue. For this to work joined-up thinking across the health services, the Department of Health and a range of other Departments is required.

Reference was made to the national disability strategy implementation plan and the comprehensive employment strategy, in regard to which I would like to set out some facts. The comprehensive employment strategy was to form part of the National Disability Strategy Implementation Plan 2013-2015. Neither the Department of Social Protection nor the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation would have anything to do with sponsoring it. It was sponsored by the Department of Justice and Equality and was not delivered until October 2015, which was three months off the ending of the three year period of the plan. The current strategy is sponsored by the Department of Justice and Equality and not the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, the reason for which I cannot figure out. In regard to the 2013-2015 implementation plan, the commitment to put it in place was made in February 2011. It took two years to do that and it ran for three years. The follow-up implementation plan, which the Minister mentioned in his speech is soon to go to Cabinet was to commence in January 2016. We are now half way through 2017. The chair of the implementation body for the comprehensive employment strategy, Mr. Fergus Finlay, said at the end of its first year of operation: "I do not think one job will have been created." I am not happy to make these points: I hope I am wrong, but I know how difficult it is to implement these measures. My remarks are not only directed to those in the Visitors Gallery but to my colleagues.

During the strike four weeks ago by Bus Éireann, the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and its agent, the National Transport Authority, could not figure out that what they were doing was removing wheelchair accessible buses from three routes to make savings. Not one of the privately operated buses on those routes was wheelchair accessible, nor were they required to be so. If that can happen, then in terms of implementation in this area, we need to be very careful. Recently, Mr. Robbie Sinnott, who is blind, took the State to court so that he could do one thing that is guaranteed in our Constitution, namely, the right to vote in private. He was pushed to the limit and he eventually won his case. That is not an issue that is a huge drain on the public purse because elections and referenda are not held too often.

There are real concerns around implementation and mindset among staff in the various Departments. The Department of Justice and Equality is responsible for the provision of a focal point for the promotion and co-ordination of disability policy, including the national disability implementation plan. A whole-of-government plan must be driven by the Taoiseach of the day and co-ordinated across various Departments. The Department of Justice and Equality can do no more than ask other Departments for their input. As I said, this is a matter for the Taoiseach. Brexit is not being dealt with by any one Department. It is, in the main, being dealt with by the Taoiseach. If disability as a whole-of-government issue is to be dealt with properly then it has to be dealt with by the boss, the Taoiseach, who will be provided with updates on actions on a weekly basis. These are areas where problems can arise.

Senator Devine raised the issue of the resources with the Minister, Deputy Harris. Resources in the Department of Health is one issue, mindset is another. Resources and mindset in other Departments are equally important. This is a night of hope but we must be careful. This is not just about getting this legislation passed. The EPSEN Act 2014 came into force 13 years ago but significant parts of it have not yet been implemented. The Disability Act came into force the following year. The assessment of needs provision has not yet been triggered, except in the case of young children.A director of advocacy, a core piece of the Citizens Information Act 2007 relating to people with disabilities, has never been put in place and there are delays in implementing the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015. Let us not buy a pup. We have to travel in hope and in confidence but the legislation passed is not the legislation implemented and when it involves a number of Departments it is a really tricky deal. Successive Governments have not dealt with it.

I thank Senator Reilly, whom I first met almost two decades ago on the former Eastern Regional Health Authority, when we were younger men. I am absolutely committed to do everything I can in regard to this but people need to be very careful because what happens between Departments will either kill or drive and give life to this.