Seanad debates

Thursday, 16 May 2019

Comprehensive Employment Strategy for People with Disabilities 2015-2024: Statements

 

10:30 am

Photo of Maire DevineMaire Devine (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte ar ais roimh an Aire Stáit. The last Irish census in 2016 indicated that 13.5% of the population had a disability. In stark figures, that is 643,131 people. However, Ireland has one of the lowest employment rates for people with disabilities in the EU. It stands at 26.2%, whereas the EU average is above 48%. Our poverty figures show that people who have a disability are part of the group at high risk of poverty and associated co-morbid illnesses and mental health issues. The Minister of State is well aware of this. We need to acknowledge advances and increasing enlightenment. There is increasingly a spirit of embracing and including people who in previous years were deemed be "not like us". I welcome that and the Minister of State has worked hard to enable those with a disability to live their lives to the full.

This strategy contains six strategic priorities. The first is the building of skills, capacity and independence. We in Sinn Féin do not believe that enough progress has been made in this area. While skills-building has certainly improved, capacity and independence have not. Sinn Féin's alternative budget provided for the doubling of personal assistance hours in the State. Let us face it; promoting independent living will cost money. Personal assistants perform the tasks which a person cannot physically carry out. Many people with disabilities have huge intellectual capacity but need support and the opportunity to contribute this intellectual value to society. On Tuesday we hosted an presentation in the audiovisual room from the National Council for Special Education. One of the women present was a parent who constantly battled to enable her child to stay in school. The school made it difficult for this wheelchair-bound child to receive an education. That child achieved 600 points in the leaving certificate examinations. A parent had to continuously battle for the entire lifetime of the child. We must make it much easier and stop adding stress to already stressful situations.

The second strategic priority is to provide bridges and supports into work. Progress has certainly been made in this area. We need to move beyond corporations and companies employing persons with disabilities from a corporate responsibility point of view. Employment for persons with disabilities must be meaningful, sustainable and well-paid. It must take place on the same basis as the employment of an able-bodied employee. On that point, I may be reading it wrongly but I would love to reword page 34 of the strategy document. It reads: "many people with disabilities could be accommodated to work at little or no cost". I know this is not its meaning but it does not read well. There is value in work and there is value in rewarding work. People are well able for well-paid work. I know the phrase "little or no cost" does not mean to say otherwise, but it reads that way. Perhaps the text could be revised.

The third priority is to make work pay. This is a concern for all persons in society, not just for one section. We do not believe current wages make work pay. We need to move towards a living wage for everybody in society. Sinn Féin will be bringing forward a document that will show how a living wage can be introduced. We can have fairly paid workers and profitable businesses. They are not mutually exclusive. This would drag many of our citizens and families over the poverty line and out of deprivation and hunger.

The fourth priority is to promote job retention and re-entry to work. It is fair to say that employers are definitely becoming more accepting towards employing persons with disabilities. The retention of these jobs and persons who have acquired disabilities re-entering work needs to become the norm. The fifth priority is to provide co-ordinated and seamless support. Persons with disabilities or different abilities must have every support available in order to be included in society and to have a decent standard of living. This must be Government-led.

In my own experience, one area where the Government falls short is in autism support and education. I refer to an audiovisual presentation given by the Department of Education and Skills and AsIAm on Tuesday. That charity published a report called Invisible Children. The Minister of State will be well aware of it as it has been communicated to his Department. The illegal and unacceptable allocation of one hour per day to what are deemed "difficult children" will be challenged in the High Court.Several solicitors throughout the country will do this. What hope do children have if they do not have education and anything worthwhile to offer in the employment market in the future? Their future seems damned from the moment of their first attendance at a crèche.

The last strategic aim of the strategy is to engage employers. We are nearing what is perceived to be full employment. We now have the luxury to truly engage with employers to promote employment of people with different abilities. This requires increasing awareness of training of employers and affording equal opportunities. The target for employment of persons with disabilities by 2024 is 6%. It is still quite low compared with the 13.5% of the overall population who have disabilities. In Crumlin in Dublin 12, the percentage is 12% which is at or above the average for other areas.

I participated in the Walk In My Shoes initiative last year, as I believe the Minister of State did. He is a decent individual and he cares. To stand beside person in a motorised scooter and another person in an electric wheelchair and to try to get them from A to B with our infrastructure is almost impossible. It takes a person in a wheelchair three times the length of time to get from A to B as it would take for me to walk that distance. The person in the wheelchair has to go on to the road as all the footpaths are not dished and there are cracks and hazards on them. A person in a wheelchair would be late arriving in work every day because of the journey they have to make, never mind their attempts to board a bus.

The architectural departments in the local authorities have disability officers who are involved in drawing up new architectural plans and infrastructure for different towns. Will the Minister write to the local authorities and ask what they have done to provide for people with disabilities, how far they have gone, what their plans are and when what is proposed will come to fruition? We need to know our infrastructure is changing and becoming disability proofed. I am under pressure of time and there is much more I would like to say. We are behind the Minister of State in what he is doing and are supportive of him. We urge him to move a little faster and to invest more money in this area.

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