Cathal Byrne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State, welcome her to the Chamber, congratulate her on her appointment and recognise the work she and her officials did with me on highlighting the need for more speech and language therapists in the town of New Ross. That is appreciated and it is hoped we will have further good news in that area shortly.

I highlight again what has been highlighted already, which is the shortage of speech and language therapists and occupational therapists, especially for children when it comes to the assessment of need and making sure children in need of a diagnosis and subsequently given a diagnosis are in a position to access treatment promptly. I welcome the creation of the Minister of State's new role at Cabinet with the purpose of driving forward delivery. It is so important for the people of Wexford I represent and people throughout the country who have raised the need for greater investment in the area and greater access to services. I particularly highlight the goal in the programme for Government to double the number of college placements for speech and language, physios, occupational therapists, psychologists and social workers. It is important, if we are to have a pipeline of people to take up these positions when they became available, funded by the HSE, that there are trained professionals in a position to take them up. I recognise the 17% increase in CDNTs from October 2023 to October 2024 but, as the Minister of State knows well, we have much further to go in that area.

I want to highlight the area of people with disabilities accessing education at secondary school level, going on to third level and then into the workforce. I recognise the programme for Government's commitment in this area. As has been pointed out in this debate, when we have the lowest workforce participation rate for people with disabilities across the EU at a time of virtually full employment in the country, much more can be done. It is not only supports for people with disabilities to access a job but also to assist employers in their responsibilities when taking on people with disabilities. We cannot put a ceiling on the ambition of people with disabilities simply because they have a disability. They should be encouraged and supported to be active participants in the workforce at every opportunity. With the Minister of State's focus on the issue, we can see real and tangible results very soon.

A point made earlier concerned the ability of people with disabilities to access the public transport system. A constituent contacted me last week who stated it is very difficult for her with her blindness to access the new Local Link services because they are not fully accessible for people with disabilities. It is fantastic we now have a service operating seven days a week from Enniscorthy to Wexford town through rural villages in the heartland of my constituency, but it is important that bus service has wheelchair accessibility and is available to people with disabilities. The point she highlighted was that, in the past, because of concerns with insurance and claims if something were to happen, bus drivers, through no fault of their own, were actively discouraged from assisting people with disabilities for fear there would be a claim were there to be an accident or a fall. We need to resolve that issue. I urge the Minister of State to get directly involved in that. If we are to support Local Link services, we should create an environment where people with disabilities can access Local Link and public transport freely and safely.

The programme for Government commits to reviewing the enduring power of attorney situation. As a practising solicitor, I share the concerns the Law Society has raised about the ability of people to access and create an enduring power of attorney. The society raised the startling statistic that, in 2023, before the new system for registering an enduring power of attorney was created, we had 1,245 powers of attorney registered. In the first six months of 2024, the last period for which statistics were published, only ten were created. I am well aware of the difficulties in the area. It is flawed legislation. There needs to be a designated solicitors' portal. I encourage the Minister of State, like her predecessor, to work with the Law Society in that area. Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.