Keith Swanick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I am glad to see on Twitter today that #MakeWayDay has been trending. Stickers have been placed on objects which have obstructed access for people with disabilities. As a society, we all have to be more mindful of this.

Fianna Fáil welcomes the publication of the new strategy but, at the end of the day, it is the Government’s ability to deliver it and improve significantly the lives of people with disabilities that will be the only metric that matters. Progress must be made as quickly as possible with regards to implementation. Many disability groups are rightly sceptical about delivery and a convincing effort is required on the part of the Minister of State and the Government. This scepticism is understandable when we consider that we are still awaiting the ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Similarly we have long waiting lists for many essential therapies, especially for children. Nor are people with disabilities having their right to an assessment of need vindicated within the statutory timeframe. These are all challenges that must be addressed if we are to significantly improve the lives of people with disabilities in a practical sense.

During the week an article popped up on my Twitter account. It was written by Tom Clonan and titled: “Leo knows we get up early in the morning to bathe, toilet & spoonfeed our loved ones”. Tom takes care of his son Eoghan who suffers from a rare neuromuscular disease. I, along with more than 40,000 others, read this most harrowing article. In it he talks about the deep fear he has for the future and, when he allows himself, he asks the most frightening questions: Who will do his physio and stretches when I die? Who will hold him and lift him? Who will dress him in his favourite Leinster rugby top and Abercrombie & Fitch tracksuit bottoms? Who will look after his most intimate care needs? What kind of hands will be placed upon him? This is heartbreaking stuff. In his words, it is "[t]oo frightening to contemplate" the answers to these questions. His son Eoghan is one of approximately 600,000 Irish citizens living with a disability. These are an invisible community which has been living for the most part in silent suffering as its members cope with the day-to-day struggles and poverty that generally accompanies disability in Ireland.

This new strategy cannot let Eoghan and people like him down. It aims to significantly improve the lives of people with disabilities in a practical sense and also to create the best possible opportunities for people with disabilities to fulfil their potential. Eight themes were identified as central to the success of the strategy: equality and choice; joined-up policies and public services; education; employment; health and well-being; person-centred disability services; living in the community; and transport and accessible places. In this sense we will all have an opportunity to follow the progression and we will be watching carefully. This cannot be an "all talk and no action" strategy. The Government says it is intended as a living document, and further actions will be added where necessary.Key commitments include a review of transport supports to determine the cross-departmental transportation options that will best help people with a range of disabilities to get to and from their workplace and the implementation of the most viable proposals. Also included are the development of proposals to address the issue of access to, or the affordability of, necessary aids, appliances and assistive technologies required for everyday living for those with disabilities whose entry, retention or return to work could be jeopardised by their being unable to afford them; the development of proposals for attaching conditions regarding the wheelchair accessibility of passenger licensed services and notification times of travel with transport service providers for people with mobility difficulties who require assistance; full implementation of the access and inclusion model of supports for children with disabilities to allow every child to participate meaningfully in the early childhood care and education scheme; and full implementation of the Transforming Lives programme. Other key commitments are the examination of the recommendations of the Make Work Pay working group with a view to introducing meaningful reforms that will make it financially worthwhile for a person with a disability to take up employment; implementation of the comprehensive employment strategy for persons with disabilities; the examination of the recommendations made in the report of the personalised budgets task force with a view to introducing the option of availing of a personal budget as one approach to individualised funding; and the development of codes of practice to support implementation of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015.

Ireland has yet to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, UNCRPD, and it is critical that we do so soon. The Government did publish a Bill at the end of 2016 to give effect to it, but Fianna Fáil was disappointed that the Bill had been published incomplete, with many significant sections to be provided through Dáil Committee Stage amendments. Eight months after the Bill went through on Second Stage in the Dáil, the amendments still remain to be published. The Bill, as published, contains six substantive sections and, judging by what is being proposed for discussion on Committee Stage, at least another six sections are in the offing. lt appears that, in order to meet the programme for Government commitment on ratification, it was imperative to publish a Bill come what may. That is disappointing. However, to publish what is essentially half a Bill is hardly the best way to honour ratification of the most important UN convention. The failure to ratify the UNCRPD is a black mark on the country's name. The failure to ratify it is clear evidence that people with disabilities continue not to be seen as a priority.