John Dolan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister, Deputy Michael Ring. Although his Department has been going for nearly a year, this is the first opportunity I have had to wish him well in it. It is an interesting Department. It is a small outfit, but it has a cross-departmental approach. Small might turn out to be beautiful. I have been rereading its statement of strategy. There is an emphasis on the creation of jobs, the infrastructure required to support them, as well as supporting communities to be more sustainable and desirable places in which to live, work and raise families. The Minister referred to the cross-departmental aspects of the Department which is front and centre and really exciting. However, there is no particular mention in the strategy of people with disabilities and their families. There are many references to them in A Programme for a Partnership Government which includes a commitment to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Thankfully, that has been done. This means that the job has to start. Will the Minister come back to the House to set out, in the context of his Department's work and remit, the steps being taken to move on the issue of the inclusion of people with disabilities? That he has a cross-departmental approach and culture is highly important.

Housing, access and public transport are issues for people with disabilities. Job creation is also a significant issue, on which the Minister placed much emphasis. It is not shifting in the right direction for people with disabilities anywhere throughout the country. Will the Minister come back to set out how he is weaving the Government's commitment into the work of his Department, as well as the work it does with other Departments, to improve the position for people with disabilities?

Up to 37% of the population live in rural areas. There are 228,000 people with disabilities living in rural Ireland. About the same number, 227,000 persons, live on farms. That shows how large a number of people with disabilities are involved and that does not even take into account the multiplier effect when one considers their families. Focusing on and improving the inclusion of people with disabilities and their families are also practical ways for the Minister to focus on public service reform, as is well stated in his Department’s statement of strategy. The Department's mission is to promote rural and community development, as well as to support viable, inclusive and sustainable communities throughout Ireland. One of the five areas to which the Minister referred is improving access to services and social networks to ensure a high quality of life for people. That is critical for people with disabilities and their families. Again, I am asking the Government to overtly include it. The strategy of statement states:

We have a cross-government mandate that involves engaging at every level of Irish society, from citizen to central government, and our ambition is to build a culture of co-production with those stakeholders, defined as “Delivering public services in an equal and reciprocal relationship between professionals, people using services, their families and their neighbours”.

The Minister gave seven examples. Will he come back to show where people with disabilities figure in them? Will the rural regeneration and development fund have a dividend for people with disabilities and their families? It gives a tremendous boost to rural Ireland. However, the aim at this stage is not to struggle strongly with how we include people with disabilities and their families. The fight for the Minister is not only within his Department but with other Departments.

In making rural Ireland sustainable the Minister focused on the economic and employment side. However, there are two sides to that coin. It also has to be a decent place, as other Senators mentioned, to encourage people to live and for them to want to live in rural Ireland. The other pillar is the social side. Of course, I could talk morning, noon and night about people with disabilities. However, focusing on people who have needs which cross different Departments and public services provides a template for all sorts of group which at various times will have inclusion issues and difficulties. I am keen to be of any assistance I can to the Department. I am not bothered that it is not a Department of monstrous size. It might be the way Departments will have to work more. It should be about what they can get done, not particularly what they do themselves. That is so important to build a new Ireland that will work for everyone.