Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, for coming to the House and staying for the debate. I also thank the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, for her work in this area, which was rightly pointed out by the previous speaker. I do a lot of canvassing, as many colleagues do, and one of the recurring themes at the doorsteps is disability rights and the situation of carers. It is our job to bring all those concerns to Parliament and have them addressed. I thank the Fine Gael Senators for allowing us all the opportunity to do that. Last weekend, I canvassed five different parts of Galway and, again, this issue was a recurring theme. Carers are not talking only about their own needs. They are advocating for their family members, particularly those who are living with disabilities. It is exhausting to have to advocate for the recognition of the rights of those family members.

Everything in the motion is admirable, particularly the call for the implementation of the optional protocol to the CRPD. It is absolutely urgent that we ratify it. However, there is no point in doing so if we do not, at the same time, address people's needs. We cannot meet the current demand for home care provision. The statistics show that demand is set to increase up to 2030 by between 48% and 66%. That is a massive increase. If we look at the Irish demographics, we see the shift is moving in the other direction in terms of those who are able to provide home care. There is a mismatch with the demand. I know countless families who are not getting even one hour of respite and have never had respite over the years their family member has been living with disability. That is really difficult. As I canvassed last weekend, it was the situations of those families that were making me feel really emotional. It is really hard to listen to their stories, particularly because most of us are touched by the same issues within our own families and our own daily lives.

As a country, we are a caring people. It is important to talk about the forthcoming referendum when we are talking about care. The word "care" was specifically chosen, rather than "carer", because the referendum proposal is really about relationships of care within families.I commend Family Carers Ireland, One Family Ireland and the Independent Living Movement Ireland, all of which are supporting the referendum wholeheartedly. I also commend the National Women's Council which has made a very touching film focusing on several people who are impacted by a lack of striving to support these families. Those words are very different from the words already in the Constitution. It is about striving to support, about creating a new obligation on the Government. However, we should not need to have that obligation. Having been there at the National Women's Council's campaign launch, I know that if we get a really strong "Yes", "Yes" across the board, it further enhances our movement and gives more power to this.

Looking at the Family Carers Ireland scorecard, five of the areas have received limited progress; three have received good progress; none has received full commitment achieved; six have achieved no progress; and four have been regressive. I know the challenges. I look forward to hearing the Minister of State outline what is happening; that is what she is here for. Family Carers Ireland have said that unfortunately the gains are eclipsed by setbacks and insufficient progress in critical health areas. Of particular concern are regressive steps in areas such as home support, assessment of needs, waiting times and the availability of vital respite and disability day services. I know families dealing with these issues and they do not want to have to say this is what they need. They should not have to say it, but they do need it and are crying out for it. They are emotional when they meet a politician and are advocating for themselves or a family member.

This is one of the most important motions to come before us. It is incredibly important that the Minister of State is here to take it. I know her commitment and I know what she is up against, but we need to see that striving for progress in order to have the confidence that we will meet this increased demand and will deal with the demographic shift which will make it harder, not easier, for home carers. Right now, I feel we are in a bit of a crisis.