Tom Clonan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

That is when my advocacy as a parent began because in Ireland, as a parent and carer and as a family who experience disability, you become de facto an advocate. I approached the line Minister at the time. I never got to speak to the Minister for Health. I would characterise the response then, in 2011, as one of hostility and quite confrontational. The attitude was one of “So, you want to skip the queue”, “You are a queue jumper” and “I am your best friend now, am I?”. It was that kind of stuff. I grew up in Finglas. I was in the Army for 12 years and I know what rough is because it was dog rough. If I fast-forward to 2016, there was a new Government and a new Minister of State with responsibility for disabilities, Finian McGrath, was appointed. In that five-year period the attitude changed completely. It went from hostility and confrontation to one of the listening ear. The Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, was appointed in 2020 and that progression has improved even further because she has done everything in her power; she is not just a listening ear but a woman of action. I know that she has experienced, because I have been in the room with her when she experienced it, resistance and the frustration of not being able to achieve perhaps everything she wants to achieve. There was, however, no lack of effort and investment. I thank the Minister of State and commend her on that.

When I got in here, the first day I was elected, I said I wanted to do three things. I wanted to make friends, get a coalition of people who would be willing to work together on disability matters and learn. I have learned a great deal. I would like to think that Senator McGreehan, the Fianna Fáil spokesperson on disability, and Senator Seery Kearney are friends. In both of them I see people who are fully invested and passionate about the rights of persons with disability. Senator Carrigy, in his own modest and understated way has also worked for all of us, all of our community. People like him are the reason people like me can sleep at night. I mean that very sincerely and I acknowledge that. I am, however, making the broader point that as we approach a new administration, I hope that progression continues. The UN convention is now fully ratified. I hope that in the next administration we can get the fundamental human rights-based legislation enacted so that we can address all the issues around recruitment, retention and assessment of needs and then all the supports and services that are routinely available in other jurisdictions. We can do this. Is féidir linn. I am sorry for going over time. I am sorry, Senator Boyhan, that I have taken more time than I had intended.