Seanad debates

Wednesday, 27 June 2018

Summer Economic Statement: Statements

 

10:30 am

Photo of John DolanJohn Dolan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Patrick O'Donovan.

Health is in crisis, housing is in crisis, there are serious issues in Northern Ireland with the breakdown for over a year of the institutions there and, of course, Brexit. The four crises that we have are no doubt four priorities for Government.

On 19 April this year, the State ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. That meant that we were getting on with the job of putting to right issues that go back generations. I accept funding has been going in year on year over the past couple of years but I have not heard one Minister, when talking about funding for people with disabilities or mental health needs, state that the Government is winning the game and getting over the demographic that is working against us. People are living longer. At the other end of the spectrum, we have babies being born who would not have seen the light of day not too long ago who have significant needs.

An issue that needs to be dealt with here also is the fact that the Government has given its solemn promise, after 11 years of cogitating, to get on with dealing with the disability inclusion issue. I am saying that this coming budget has to make a significant start on that. If it does not, how can the Government say that it was honestly ratifying the UN convention?

I have studied economics for a number of years. I have no difficulty repeating what is already in the Minister of State's statement, that there is €206 billion of debt or €42,000 for every man, woman and child in the country. That is a fact. I am not walking away from that. All of us, in particular, the Government, have to struggle with the significant unmet needs that it has said it will make a real strong start on and every Department has to play a part in that.

Disability comes to everybody at some point. Women, the daughters, the sisters and mothers of Ireland, more than anybody else, stand in the gap all of the time when it comes to dealing with this issue. The point I am making is that dealing with disability is putting much needed and triage funding and services into every parish and townland in this country. It is an issue for children, for parents, for families and adults. There are chronic levels of unemployment among people with disabilities and older people and women are the ones taking it in the neck every day in this regard. The Government needs to keep faith with the commitment it has made only a couple of months ago.

The Minister of State is right to talk about the €60 billion that we have in the base and how that can be used better. I do not know if there is anyone who better appreciates that than I do when I see the way Departments and public bodies do not think inclusively, take short-term measures and then have to come back and retrofit services and support for people with disabilities.

The best way to really put money in people's pockets is to have public services they can depend on when they need them. The best way of putting money in people's pockets is where there is a sustainable floor of public services. We talk about people coming back to Ireland. People are not going to come back here to live in an economy; they will come back because there is childcare, public services and a whole range of other things. We need a different way of looking at the importance of having sustainable public services. I believe we have to sail a bit closer to the wind in regard to the rainy day fund and we have to struggle more with it. For people with disabilities or mental health needs in their families, it is raining on them every day and it has not lifted. They are not waiting for a rainy day fund to keep things right for them. As other Senators have said, we know from the work done in clinics and in local constituencies the difficult situations that people are in.

The Minister of State's statement referred to ensuring a steady and sustainable improvement in living standards. This is the nub. Is that going to include people with disabilities and their families and are they going to see a strong start in this budget? We talk about growth rates of nearly 6% this year and 4% last year. The people I am talking about do not see that. The economists say we are at full employment but we are not. The hard core of people with disabilities are still far from those employment levels and there is a hard core of people - not particularly those with disabilities - who are intergenerationally unemployed. Those are two very important areas to deal with. Will the steady and sustainable improvements in living standards include people with disabilities?

There is a risk in not dealing with these issues now and, in a sense, there is a risk in being too careful, if that does not seem contradictory. There is a risk in being too prudent when there are huge pockets of unmet need. Instead of simply saying we need a rainy day fund, which I do not think anyone is against, we have to struggle with the massive day-to-day unmet needs. I saw information from Barnardos today. The waiting list in regard to so many services for children is a slight on this nation and on all of us. The figures dealt in particular with speech and language therapy, the mental health needs of children and so on.

Senator Boyhan mentioned the Oireachtas disability group submission yesterday, which is looking for an investment of over €200 million, and looking for it without blinking. It is a significant package but every Minister can put something into that basket. It may be about changing the way they arrange things in their base but a strong start is needed this year if there is an honesty to the Government ratifying the UN convention.

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