Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State and I congratulate her on her appointment. We know and we can all agree that this pandemic has caused huge disruption to the lives of people with disabilities, especially those who avail of day services. Many day service centres were totally shut during the first months of the lockdown and while they are now open, they are, as the Minister of State has admitted, at a much reduced capacity. This is simply unacceptable. Day services are a lifeline for our citizens with disabilities and for their families. These essential services provide support, routine and respite. The Government must provide the resources to allow the full reopening of day services for people with disabilities who avail of them.

The people who depend on these services have suffered disproportionately from closures. Inclusion Ireland, which was cited by Senator Bacik, carried out a study in July on the impact of the closure of day services on people with intellectual disabilities. A significant number of respondents reported increased loneliness and anxiety and an increase in challenging behaviour or anger. We do not know what the long-term impact will be on the people who rely on day services. Inclusion Ireland has also carried out a follow-up survey to the one it did in July and that will be published next week. Some of the headline findings make for stark reading. In terms of service loss compared to pre-Covid-19, 11% lost four days; 36% lost three days; 24% lost two days; and 5% lost one day. That means over 60% of people are being asked to make do with two to three days less than they are used to. Is this the height of the Government’s ambition? I know it is challenging for everybody but those statistics tell us that the reopening has also been unequal.

We commend the service providers who are doing their best with inadequate resources. The Government is placing the responsibility on the shoulders of the service providers to make some very tough decisions. They have scarce resources and are being asked to decide who deserves them and who does not. These are impossible choices for people to make. I know the Government will probably say that Covid-19 means we just cannot provide full day services and that we are in extraordinary times. I remind the House, however, that this excuse did not wash when it was time to find the resources to open the schools. In August and September, the Taoiseach said the priority was to keep the schools and colleges open and that everything would be done to achieve that. I ask the Minister of State why it has to be different for people with disabilities? Where is the commitment to find the resources to overcome this? This is discrimination.

In October, Sinn Féin brought a motion to the Dáil and called for the Government to allocate enough resources to bring those essential services up to pre-Covid-19 levels. That means allocating for extra staff, physical facilities and transportation to facilitate social distancing. We are still hearing - and I know everybody's inbox is full from constituents contacting them - that some day services cannot provide transport and that where the person with disabilities cannot make his or her own way, he or she is just shut out from the service.

During the last economic crisis, and I know the Minister of State was not in government then, it was the vulnerable who bore the brunt of austerity. While this year’s budget saw an absolute increase in provision for disability services, which is welcome, it was not enough to meet the challenge of providing full day services. The last time, disability interest groups and providers had to protest outside the House on Kildare Street. Once again, in this crisis, it is the most vulnerable who again bear the cost, only this time they cannot protest. The impact of the cutbacks is being acutely felt by the people impacted. Again, the figures from the Inclusion Ireland survey are harrowing and should alarm the Minister of State. They found that 93% of respondents felt their ability to participate in the community was worse or much worse; 88% had a lower quality of life since services were cut; 47% had a lower mood; and 34% were more withdrawn. Those statistics are deeply concerning and will have a lasting impact on the people who are affected.

We welcome any increase in funding for disability services in the budget but we would like the same attention to be given to disability day services as is being given to education.