Annie Hoey (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I was not going to speak today. I just came down to listen but as I listened to Senator Clonan and others, the words of James Connolly came to mind.

Some men, faint-hearted, ever seek

Our programme to retouch,

And will insist, whene’er they speak

That we demand too much.

’Tis passing strange, yet I declare

Such statements give me mirth,

For our demands most moderate are,

We only want the earth.

These words from Connolly's 1907 poem, "We Only Want the Earth", stand true today when we say we only want the earth. Disabled people only want to be able to live and thrive in a world that has been designed, unfortunately, by mankind to keep them out. We only want to be able to access services we need in order to be able to live a full life. It is right and proper that, as this Bill proposes, the denial of these services should be illegal and that the Government be held to account for any delays or lack of services in the future.

I have outlined before the experience that my family and I have had in caring for our father. Some day, when I am ready, but not today, I will speak about my own experience of becoming disabled and the process of being welcomed into the disabled community and that really caring, wonderful group of caring activists who have helped me through my own journey in that.

I will now briefly reflect on the Bill. Senator Clonan said it is a small Bill with big change. We might call it "The little Bill that could" because it outlines what could be done for enable people if enacted. All of us know about the cost of assessments of need. I do not mean the financial cost, although it too is of concern, but the cost to individuals and their families who are waiting with what feels like no end in sight. My colleague, Senator Wall, outlined the impact of not having an assessment of need, having an assessment of need and the back and forth that we know people go through. Individuals are suffering without their needs being met. We know the cost of not having a fully staffed sector. Both Houses, but especially the Seanad, have discussed have discussed section 39 workers. We have discussed at length the pay and conditions and problems of retention in the sector. These are all issues the Government can do something about now. I know the Minister of State has been looking into them.

I am proud to have co-signed this Bill, along with my Labour Party colleagues. I am less proud that we need the Bill and about what it says about us as a society - this is not a reflection on individuals – that we persist in denying disabled people their basic needs. I hope the tide has turned. I think the Bill is a reflection of where we are as a society; not only that we are seeking legislative change to try to improve the lives and conditions of disabled people and carers and the people who support them but also that we are seeing a societal change. I am aware of the Minister of State’s personal commitment to the cause, particularly in her campaign to move disability from the health model into the social model.