Tom Clonan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Taoiseach for coming in. I had the pleasure of meeting his lovely mum here two weeks ago, so I appreciate the importance of family. I am conscious that more than 100,000 disabled citizens and their families live in continuous poverty in Ireland. I refer to the time that is left in this Administration. Since I came in here, I have enjoyed very generous support from everybody in this House and from all Senators. That includes Senators from this side of the House and Government Senators from Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party. I appreciate that a lot. I have not had an opportunity to thank my colleagues for the support and generosity that they showed towards me before the summer recess in my disability Bill, which I hope will become an Act at some point.

Budget day is upon us and then it will be Hallowe'en and Christmas. The lifetime of this Government is measured out in months now and it is part of the programme for Government to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, UNCRPD. I ask the Taoiseach to do that. It would be a landmark achievement for him, the Government and Deputy Micheál Martin as Tánaiste if they could fully ratify the UNCRPD, including the optional protocol. That would be of huge assistance to our disabled citizens, who are among the most poorly treated throughout the EU on so many measures.

I also ask the Taoiseach and his partners at Cabinet to reconsider any notion of starting to medically assess disabled citizens on the basis of their capacity to work. That is a retrograde step and it has been brought into disrepute in the UK and Northern Ireland. Most of all, I ask the Taoiseach to fully ratify the UNCRPD.