John Dolan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I was struck by a couple of points made by earlier speakers. Senator Victor Boyhan referred to providing the public with a citizens' guide to the budget using simple language. I would like to see an annex to that guide containing a guide for people with disabilities and their families to show where they will be after this budget, whether up, down or treading water.

Senator Kieran O'Donnell talked about having an eye for and taking into account people on social welfare and those on the margins. I welcome that. It is another issue as to whether the statement and what will follow it actually manage to do that.

Senator Rose Conway-Walsh noted she was the only woman in the Chamber. I believe she meant she was the only female contributor. That got me thinking about Senator McDowell's point that we must have control over spending. Of course we must but how many women, who are more often affected than men, will have control over spending after the budget? They have to consider rent, mortgage, food, children's clothes and so on. What will be left after that? For many people, there may not be anything left to make spending choices about? These are some of the issues.

I attended the national economic dialogue this morning on behalf of the Disability Federation of Ireland. I read the Minister of State's statement and listened to what he said this afternoon. I look at this through the prism of the commitment of the Government to implement the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. That means getting on with, and progressive improvement in, the participation and living standards of people with disabilities. I do not feel the love, if I may put it like that, from the forward to the summer economic statement. It may be implied but it is not overtly stated. I will offer some examples. Living standards have recovered and measures of well-being have improved generally, but not for people with disabilities. I am acutely aware that the scars of the crisis will remain for some time. Many people, to continue the analogy, are still bleeding. They have not got over the crisis to the extent that the wound has become a scar. Access to services in health and some other areas is becoming more difficult.

Mention was made of continuing to invest in our infrastructure. Is that our social infrastructure or is it capital and economic infrastructure? The statement does not indicate that this includes the social fabric and infrastructure. Reference is made to sustainably improving living standards, but for whom? Does that include people with disabilities?

The Minister of State said that, put simply, the Government faces a difficult balancing act in steering the economy and the public finances through a potentially turbulent time. There is no mention of the social infrastructure that was hammered during the recession. The Minister of State went on to emphasise that the Government would still be in a position to fund the roll-out of the national development plan and maintain and improve existing levels of public services. Public services, especially in the health sector for people with disabilities, are hanging on by a shoestring.

Less than one month ago, the new director general of the HSE stated in a memorandum to his staff that the first thing was to hold the line on the budget for this year. He suggested that, come what may, the HSE would not go over-budget. The HSE goes over-budget every year. The reason given for that statement was to regain the confidence and trust of the HSE's funders, namely, the Department of Health and, more particularly, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. How can disabled people understand that statement other than to interpret it as them being left outside while one public body regains the trust and confidence of another public body? That is rather chilling. I will not go into the details but I know there are major pressures in funding disability and health services this year. We had an exposé of these in the Joint Committee on Health last week. The disability services budget did not start off as a balanced budget. There was a deficit of €16 million and there is more than €30 million of a deficit hanging around in organisations that are funded and audited. There are other pressures. Nothing is allowed for demographic pressures this year. There are real issues. We are not now holding still. How are we to ensure that people with disabilities, their families and others are catered for? We can think of many other groups who will finish up on the margins or pushed back.

One positive and important development in the Oireachtas this year has been the commencement by the Oireachtas disability group of a series of meetings with Secretaries General to discuss a range of issues across different Departments.

I studied economics for several years and I have a degree in the subject. I know that we are a small open economy. Even if we did not have Brexit, it would be difficult but now we have all of that too. I know people have to pay their way and that we have to earn our living on the high seas. I also know that we have to keep the fabric of social services intact and in development. I know in particular that early last year the Government and the Dáil made a commitment, for which I am thankful, to implement the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. That means the wheels have to keep rolling, maybe not at a magnificent pace but we cannot have them stop either. I am asking for clarity that this will be the case.