Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House to outline the position on the implementation of the comprehensive employment strategy for people with disabilities. I thank him for his work on behalf of the deaf community and on passing the Irish Sign Language Act for the deaf community and ratifying the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. We support the strategy and its implementation. Like everybody, we want to see all the elements implemented as soon as possible. The Minister of State outlined the six elements, which include building skills, capacity and independence; providing a bridge and supports to people so they can access employment; and making work pay, in respect of which the Minister of State referred to the medical card. The latter is a very practical way of persuading people not to opt for unemployment, which would have a very detrimental impact on their health. Where individuals cannot afford to access the services they need because of their disabilities, they are left in a poverty trap as a result. Other elements include the promotion of taking up and re-entering work, and ensuring access to supports where, for whatever reason, employment does not work out; as well as co-ordinated and seamless supports and engaging with the employers.

The Minister of State outlined what the Government is doing with regard to engagement with employers. He referred to having more people from the disability sector involved, that is, those with disabilities themselves. There are a number of initiatives in this regard in Leinster House. Internships, however, can be abused, as we have seen previously. There have been a number of scandals in regard to people with disabilities being used as a cheap source of labour. That is something the Government must and does tackle. As statistics show there are 176,445 people with disabilities and that their participation rate in the workforce is only 30.2%, in comparison with 61.4% of the population in general, we can see the scale of the mountain we have yet to climb to make sure people with disabilities can participate in the workforce. The unemployment rate among people with disabilities is 26%, which is considerably more than twice that of the general workforce. The earnings of people with disabilities in employment comprise a cause of concern. One should bear in mind that the female population does not have pay parity either. Therefore, the Government has a long way to go to ensure everybody, regardless of gender or ability, has pay parity.

Fianna Fáil was the first party to come up with a comprehensive Government strategy to ensure an overarching, all-of-government approach, which the Minister of State outlined. It is important to see this continue, regardless of who is in government. Regarding interdepartmental co-operation, we are lucky to have someone like Fergus Finlay chairing the implementation group to ensure the implementation element is the most important. We have all seen the reports and know the recommendations but the tragedy is that they are not always implemented. This is why implementation of this disability strategy and others is vital. We are committed to making sure all the barriers that are keeping those with disabilities from entering the workforce are removed and that they are given the opportunity to achieve their full potential. As the Minister of State pointed out, this is part of normal Government practice.

The Irish Sign Language Act was a great achievement by the Department and those in the deaf community but I am concerned about the three-year timeframe for its implementation. The Minister of State is speaking at the conference next month. I will also be involved. The implementation of this strategy, with 12 months to go under the legislation, essentially requires all Departments, the HSE and Courts Service to have in place a facility for members of the deaf community to gain access to Government services through translators and interpreters. This is the equivalent of GDPR for the deaf community. There does not seem to be urgency in Departments other than the Department of Health. It seems there is not only no urgency but also, possibly, no awareness among other Departments of the fact that they will be breaking the law of the land by not having facilities in place. It will become quite apparent, given there are only 12 months to go. We could learn a lot about this at the conference. Many Departments are not ready or aware. Perhaps the Minister of State will, in the run-up to the conference, invite all the Secretaries General of the Departments to attend to learn that they will be required to have an interpreter available for members of the deaf community 12 months from now. Saying they do not have a strategy in place is simply not good enough. This is part of what we are talking about in terms of access to employment and access to State services by people with disabilities. While the Minister of State managed to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the context of there having been many promises and to guide legislation through the Oireachtas with all-party support - we were delighted to play a role in that - it is important that there be implementation. There is no point in our passing legislation if Departments are unaware that they have responsibilities and if they do not put in place the required structures. Departments, the Garda and HSE must all have interpreters available and systems in place to ensure services are available for members of the deaf community when required.