Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is very welcome to the House. The antiquated Lunacy Regulation (Ireland) Act 1871 remains a reality in the lives of 3,000 adults in Ireland so we need to get this Bill over the line.I have heard very strongly from those stakeholder groups that have been looking forward to this day and to the day when it is signed into law.

That is to do with those who are wards of court at the moment but the Bill goes beyond that because it also puts in place measures to support all of those with disabilities who have capacity issues. Being made a ward of court, up until the Bill is passed, strips a person of his or her decision-making rights. It means that many people with intellectual disabilities continue to have little or no say about where they live, financial decisions, medical decisions or decisions on marriage. When we look to the programme for Government and all the commitments we made therein, the legislation makes good on a series of these recommendations, particularly on the UNCRPD. These include the following commitments: to commence this Bill; "Improve access for people with disabilities to jury service" under this Bill; "Double the target for employment of people with disabilities in the public service [from 3%] to 6%"; and "Remove outdated references to 'persons of unsound mind' from the Statute Book", alongside a general strengthening of the implementation and monitoring of Ireland's responsibilities under the UNCRPD to go further and strengthen the monitoring.

It is important to hone in on a couple of elements of the Bill. The overreaching intention is to empower people who need it. Decisions are not taken on people's behalf but they are supported and assisted, where appropriate, in taking these decisions. The provisions around the Decision Support Service show us that the Government is set to operationalise an organisation that is truly fit for purpose to enable this mechanism. Second, it is also important that we protect and support people. The Bill ensures that someone who has previously committed an offence against them or their child is prohibited from a decision supporting role in their lives. It also makes fraud and coercion an offence. These are extremely important safeguards but one Part of the Bill that probably has not received as much attention, which is in the programme for Government, relates to employment. The levels of employment for those with intellectual disabilities in this country are shockingly low. I would like to see us go beyond the public service, which I will get to.

The Bill provides for a doubling of employment in the public service and that is truly meaningful beyond the 3,000 people who are wards of court. The next step then will be monitoring the success of that, as the legislation the Minister brought before us on pay disparity between genders was. Monitoring of this will likewise be important so that it is not just on paper that we double it. If we look at private employment, France and Luxembourg are examples that I have looked at where these quotas have been brought in for the private sector. In France, if employers have 20 or more employees, 6% of the workforce should be disabled or they will be liable to make a payment to the state. In Luxembourg, if employers have 25 or more employees they must employ at least one full-time worker with a disability. If they have 50 or more that increases to 2% of their workforce and if they have 300 or more, that increases to 4% of their workforce. That needs to be the next step and those obligations are binding in those countries. I am happy that the Minister is considering amendments. I ask him to examine Article 12 of the UNCRPD because there has been commentary around that and in particular I mention Professor Jonas Ruškus. He says the Bill is not considered to be fully compliant with Article 12 and, therefore, I would like to know where there will be amendments or whether the Minister will address those points.

The Minister comes before us a lot with legislation on a broad range of topics but there is something underpinning all of that, namely a rights-based approach. When the Government ends, one of the clearest legacies will be from the Minister because he has taken deeply important steps in showing a commitment to human rights, a mastery of the law and a determination when it comes to helping those most in need to have their lives utterly transformed by these Bills. This is another Bill that puts people at its centre and it sits alongside his other work in helping: refugees; those who are undocumented; and members of the LGBTQ+ community and in righting historical wrongs, supporting families and truly listening to children. It is important to take this opportunity to say that. I look forward to discussing this further on Committee Stage and to honing in on some of those issues the Minister said he will address as amendments. As it stands, the Bill will transform the lives of those who are wards of court.