Lisa Chambers (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after “That” and substitute the following:

- “Seanad Éireann resolves that the Disability (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2023 be deemed to be read a second time this day 12 months, to allow for time to further examine the issues raised in the Bill alongside ongoing work that underpins significant developments around a program of transformation in disability services.”

I thank Senator Clonan for the Bill. He has been a fantastic advocate for people with disabilities long before he came into this Chamber but, certainly, the Chamber is much richer for his presence, his contribution and his lived experience and that of his family, which is very important.

On the Bill, everybody agrees we have challenges with disabilities, none more so than the Minister of State with responsibility for disabilities. Any objective person will acknowledge the work that Deputy Rabbitte has done in this area and the fight she has taken to try to provide services. Currently, as a Government, we are falling far short of where we need to be in terms of service provision. The Minister of State will be the first to say that and has publicly said it in this House and the other House. We have a lot of work to do. We are not providing assessments when they are needed, we are not providing therapies in a timely manner and they are not early invention because they are not happening early enough, so we have huge problems.

I am conscious in moving the Government amendment that people will not be happy with that. It provides a 12-month move to allow the Minister time to deal with this issue and to provide some sort of solution to it. I am referring to the Minister, Deputy Roderic O'Gorman, who is the lead or senior Minister on this. In giving the benefit of the doubt to the Minister that he genuinely wants this time to deliver, to make improvements in services and to show that in 12 months, we can show a change in service delivery and show we are doing more, we have to hope that is possible.

There are clearly huge constraints in filling vacant posts and we cannot get the staff that we need. We have parents and children who have become advocates by accident as opposed to by design, and we have met many of them in Leinster House at different briefings. It is heartbreaking to see a young child's mother and father have to take time out of what is already a really demanding home schedule, when they are caring for somebody, to come here to tell us what they need in terms of services.

I want to make it very clear that, on this side of the House, we support the Bill and we want to see it enacted. Certainly, there is a very clear message from our side of the House going to the senior Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, that we expect in 12 months time to be able to come back to the Chamber and report significant progress. That is the message we have delivered from his request to us to give him time to do that. They are the conditions that we are attaching to agreeing to move the amendment and give time, namely, we want to see engagement between Senator Clonan and the other signatories of this Bill, our two spokespersons, the Minister and the Minister of State to try to make progress on this issue because we are failing children and their families.

That is not without acknowledging the significant and genuinely passionate effort on behalf of so many, not just the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, but all of those working in the disability sector and all of the organisations and the volunteers on the ground. Huge work is being done but it is not getting us to the point that we need to be at in addressing the seriously long waiting lists. I acknowledge the seriousness of the issue that we are debating. We should have further statements on this at the earliest opportunity in the new term.It would be good for this House to receive regular updates on disability services, as I know many Members have requested. I have no doubt but that the Minister of State will be available to do that. Let us make it a priority for this Chamber to consistently highlight the issue that Senator Clonan always highlights, to keep it top of the agenda and ensure that we are actually seeing delivery and accountability when it comes to disability services. A section of the Bill refers to resources from public expenditure. Resources, in terms of the money, do not seem to be the problem. The problem is that the way the system is set up and organised means we cannot get the staff to fill the posts. If money was the issue, we would have a much better health service than we currently have. That is not the only issue. Certainly, from a Government perspective, we will not be found wanting in terms of funding services. There are other areas we need to address. I want to reiterate, from this side of the House, that we are supportive of the legislation and that we commend Senator Clonan on bringing it. We will be looking to see significant progress, which we can report on in this House, in the coming year to make sure that the Minister of State does use this time wisely to ensure that we can see that progress. I hope people will take this as a constructive contribution, understanding the request that has come in to this side of the House, but also understanding that we get how important an issue this is and how important it is that we see significant change in terms of disability resources, capacity and early intervention - and not intervention in five or six years' time. We must ensure that people get assessments and therapies when they need them and as often as they need them. That is the aspiration that we have for this country in terms of disability services. I know it is shared by every Member of this House and the Minister of State as well.