Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit agus roimh an mBille. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Seanadóir Clonan as ucht an seal an Bille a phlé. I welcome the Minister of State to the House and commend and thank Senator Clonan on the introduction of this Bill, the opportunity to discuss it and the privilege of being able to co-sponsor it with Sinn Féin and other Opposition colleagues.

I am quite angry about some of what I heard from Government Senators tonight. I will do my best to curtail that anger. We heard some Government Senators speaking as though they are not in government; as though it is not the Government's job to act and legislate on these matters; as though it is not our job as an institution of the Oireachtas to legislate; and as though it would be better for us to convene think tanks and talking shops, rather than deal with legislation introduced by one of the foremost campaigners, advocates and activists on this issue when it is before us in the Seanad tonight. It beggars belief. It upsets me that is the approach to an issue such as this one. One Government Senator stated it would work in principle but not in practice. Imagine we took that approach to every Bill that comes before us in this institution. Imagine we took that approach on Second Stage of the Fine Gael Bill on spiking we will debate on Committee Stage tomorrow. Imagine we were to say it would work in principle but not in practice so let us kick it into touch, let us kick the can down the road or let us not deal with it. That is not what we are meant to do as legislators. It is certainly not what the Government is meant to do about an issue of such fundamental importance, when it is brought before the House, such as this one brought by Senator Clonan in this Bill. It is becoming a bit of a pattern which concerns me. We had to deal with some of this in the past during the Covid-19 pandemic when a whole range of group leaders were concerned about the guillotining of Bills or all Stages of Bills being rushed through in one day. Those were exceptional circumstances, but more and more often we are seeing these long-finger amendments come from the Government. This just allows Bills to fall into the ether. They will not be acted upon, instead of the proper, appropriate, laid-out parliamentary and legislative process being followed.

People who live with disabilities, their families and their communities have been failed by the State for far too long. We, in Sinn Féin, have a vision for a society in which all citizens, including those with disabilities, are offered equal access and equal opportunity. This Bill represents an important first step in ensuring people with disabilities have access to the services and support they need. The Bill we are debating tonight is about ensuring a statutory right to services and interventions for children with additional needs that currently does not exist.

As it stands, our two-tier health service is failing people with disabilities. Promises made by successive Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil Governments have failed to materialise. This Government committed to publishing a disability capacity review action plan by December 2021. However, more than two and a half years later, the report has not materialised. The outcome of these empty and broken promises has been devastating for people with disabilities and their families. Approximately 17,000 children are waiting for initial contact with a children's disability network team and the assessment of needs for 2,500 children is overdue. The situation is only getting worse as services become increasingly difficult to access.

Workforce challenges are having a serious impact on service waiting lists. It is shocking that the recent children's disability network team census for 2022 shows a 34% vacancy rate, up from 28% in 2021. That equates to more than 707 vacancies across the 91 CDNTs as opposed to 524 in the previous census. The 62% vacancy rate among clinical specialists is extremely worrying. At a time when we need to be creating additional third level places and delivering additional therapy graduates, the lack of clinical specialists needed to oversee clinical placements prevents it. It is simply not acceptable that more than one third of posts in CDNTs are vacant while parents and guardians are desperately seeking access to assessments of need and therapeutic supports for their children. This Bill is an important first step, but the Government must step up to the plate. It must invest in disability services and address the workforce challenges with a serious workforce planning group, led by An Taoiseach, to include the Departments of Health and Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. The Government must live up to its legal and moral obligations and provide people with disabilities with the services they need. While the words we heard from the Government side of the Seanad tonight may be sugar-coated, if the amendment is passed, Senators essentially will be asking people with disabilities and their families to continue to wait. It should be the job of the Government and of this House to act.Without pre-empting what the Minister of State is going to say, I hope she says the right thing in terms of support for Senator Clonan’s Bill. I want her to tell me and, more importantly, the people out there what exactly it is she is waiting for, what it is that she wants from the passage of the amendment today and what exactly it is that she is going to do in that intervening period if the amendment passes.