Tom Clonan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I refer to the Attorney General's report on the withholding of the disabled persons maintenance allowance from people in State-funded residential settings. I cannot begin to explain how offensive I find the language used in the report. The Irish Times described it as a kind of no-nonsense report. In fact, it is nonsense because what is lawful is not always appropriate or ethical. There is a pattern or strategy of litigation on the part of the State that is becoming ever more apparent. It is designed to suppress and violate the rights of our most vulnerable citizens, some of whom are non-verbal.

What does this say about our Republic? It diminishes us all. I would not describe what is being done as a "sound, accurate and appropriate" policy, strategy or set of advices, as the Attorney General has done. It is morally and ethically reprehensible. It fails even the most liberal tests of what is ethical. Is it courageous to deny the most vulnerable citizens their disability payments? No, it is not courageous. Is it proportionate? No, it is disproportionate and it is cruel. We would not discriminate against any other group in the Republic in this way. There would, quite rightly, be an outrage if this were applied to people by way of ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender identity.

I call for a debate on this absolute crisis. Today, as I speak, section 39 organisations are still withholding and demanding payment from people's disability allowance for services that should be provided as a fundamental human right to our most vulnerable citizens.