Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Chathaoirleach as ucht an deis a thabhairt dom. I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach for the opportunity to mark a major milestone - the recent launch of Ireland's National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030. This strategy was at the heart of my focus during the negotiations for budget 2026. Historically, to my mind - I have never faltered in saying this - disability services have been underfunded in this country, so I was really conscious that people with disabilities would be watching to see if this budget, the first of five, would be the start of a journey together for a better future.

I am pleased to say that the package secured in budget 2026 contains substantial additional funding of over €600 million, which will help us to deliver the step change in disability services that is so urgently needed for disabled people. In budget 2026, the overall budget for specialist disability services for people with complex needs will be increased by 20% to €3.9 billion, including capital. This includes services like residential care, respite care and adult day services.

This year, 2025, we are recruiting over 1,000 extra staff in the disability sector. Next year, with the support of budget 2026, we will hire another 945 staff, bringing the disability workforce to almost 23,600 by the end of next year. This includes 150 more staff for children's disability network teams, which provide vital therapies for children. There will also be funding to improve the financial stability of voluntary organisations working in the disability sector. I am conscious that these organisations have faced rising costs.

Securing this additional funding in budget 2026 is an important step forward. I am very conscious, however, that the voice of disabled people has to be heard loud and clear in how we make the best possible use of this funding. I was really taken by the phrase used by David, one of the participants in the awareness campaign for the national human rights strategy for disabled people. He said, "Listen to us instead of telling us what we need." For my part, this is at the very heart of what this strategy is to be about, which is the aspirations, the ambitions and the lived experience of people with disabilities.

Every effort has been made to ensure people with disabilities steered, shaped and structured this strategy. There were focus groups, surveys, interviews and town hall meetings, online and in person, throughout the country. Expert interviewers were also used to access the voices of people who are seldom heard from, such as children with disabilities and people with intellectual disabilities. In some instances, people were able to communicate not just with mouth words but with facial expressions, body movements, sound and assistive technology. I know full well there are always means to communicate if we are truly prepared to listen and to hear. In reality, this strategy has come from the people who matter most: those who live every single day with disability.

After all of the consultation, one wonders what was identified. The top three issues were access to health and social care, having enough money to cover the extra costs related to disability, and being able to avail of and use public or private transportation easily. There is an unwavering focus in this strategy on clear and concrete actions that people with disabilities want prioritised, rather than just looking at it from an official and often siloed perspective. The objective is to look at issues from a whole-of-life perspective. As one disabled person brilliantly put it, "A person's life is not divided into Government Departments."

It is, therefore, fitting that the name given to this first ever national human rights strategy for disabled people was the name requested and promoted by people with disabilities themselves. The strategy is structured around five core areas: inclusive learning and education; employment; independent living and active participation in society; well-being and health; and transport and mobility. I will briefly outline the ambition behind each of these areas.

The first area, known as pillar 1, is inclusive learning and education. We have made progress in recent years in education for people with additional needs. We have doubled the number of special classes to 3,500 and created 16 new special schools. We have over 22,000 special needs assistants and over 20,000 special education teachers. In total, that is more than 40,000 professionals dedicated to the area of working with young people with additional needs. In budget 2026, we are doing more. There will be 1,717 additional special needs assistants and 860 extra special education teachers for students with special educational needs. We know from OECD data that education gaps are at the root of persistent disability employment gaps. This pillar directly confronts that reality through starting early and staying the course. By 2030, we want to see significantly improved access, greater transition supports across all education levels and, ultimately, higher rates of achievement for disabled learners.

Pillar 2 is employment. This is about closing the disability employment gap decisively. We are committed to removing systemic barriers and creating real, sustainable opportunities for disabled people to earn, contribute and thrive in the workforce. There are important improvements in budget 2026 to the wage subsidy scheme for disabled people. The base rate is increasing by €1.20 per hour to €7.50 per hour. I encourage employers to engage with their local Intreo office about this scheme because it offers very strong supports for employing disabled people. Budget 2026 also contains a new guarantee that disabled people can retain the fuel allowance for five years after taking up a job. This is another important confidence-building measure. I thank my colleague, the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Dara Calleary, for his work in delivering this.

The next area identified in the strategy is pillar 3, independent living and active participation in society. This puts independence, choice and autonomy at the centre of policy.As part of budget 2026, over 9,000 people with complex disabilities will receive the residential care they need, including 250 new placements next year. I have visited some of the new residential developments. They give disabled people an opportunity to live in the heart of their communities and lead lives of their own making. The strategy contains a strong emphasis on providing better access to this type of housing, support services and opportunities for engagement in culture, sport and civic life.

Pillar 4, well-being and health, will improve access to inclusive, integrated health services, from early intervention to mental health supports and health promotion. This goal is clear: better outcomes, higher quality of life, and services that empower disabled people to live fully and live well. Respite services are a very important part in providing support for disabled people and their families. Budget 2026 provides funding for 10,000 extra nights of respite and 15,000 further day respite sessions.

The final pillar of this strategy, transport and mobility, is about one of the most critical enablers of independence, namely, mobility. Accessible transport is so important for disabled people in their daily lives. Being able to avail of and use public or private transportation easily was one of the top three issues identified by disabled people themselves during the development of the national human rights strategy for disabled people. I, therefore, welcome the HSE’s commitment in the strategy to require taxi companies to have a minimum of 20% of their fleet wheelchair accessible when they are bidding for HSE transport contracts. This will encourage existing taxi operators and drivers to purchase wheelchair accessible taxis when they are changing their current vehicles. By 2030, disabled people must be able to move freely and confidently, whether by bus, train or car or on foot, in environments designed with inclusion in mind and policy that will be shaped in full consultation with disabled people themselves.

As a country and society, we must do better for people with disabilities. Tá sé thar am dúinn dul i ngleic leis na deacrachtaí agus na dúshláin a bhaineann le míchumas. Tugann an straitéis náisiúnta um chearta an duine do dhaoine faoi mhíchumas an deis seo dúinn tús nua a chur chun cinn. Guthanna comhionanna, gníomhartha comhionanna, todhchaí comhionann; equal voices, equal actions, equal futures. This is the motto chosen by disabled people themselves for this new strategy. Their message is clear: they want to be treated just the same as everybody else.

Time and again, people with disabilities have shared with me their strong view of nothing about us without us. How right they are. People with disabilities have been at the heart of developing this strategy. They have carved and shaped every aspect of the strategy. That is a first in this country, and it is an important first. I am determined, though, that not only should they carve out the strategy, but people with disabilities should be at the heart of its implementation, including holding all of us to account for that implementation. As a consequence, people with disabilities will sit on the various implementation groups for the strategy. The Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin, will also chair the delivery committee, which will report to him every six months. This is in conjunction with the dedicated unit within the Department of the Taoiseach, the Joint Committee on Disability Matters and, of course, the implementation groups.

The Department has also initiated the establishment of the stakeholder engagement structures that will inform the overall delivery and monitoring structures overseeing the strategy throughout its lifetime. A key focus has been on laying the groundwork to strengthen the capacity and sufficiently resource disabled persons’ organisations to ensure that they can adequately advocate for the interests and needs of their members and the wider disability communities they represent.

An important consideration has also been ensuring that other vital perspectives, including the views of people with lived experience, carers, family members, children, people with intellectual disabilities and service providers, are also included in these structures and accounted for in policy development. Helen Keller, the US disability rights activist who did so much to popularise the use of Braille for blind and visually impaired people, said, “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much." That applies across government too. The Department of Children, Disability and Equality has been working collaboratively across government on drafting the first programme plan of action covering the period to 2026. This will be published before the end of this year. The programme plans of action are templates that will effectively guide all Departments and public bodies, leading on implementation of actions across each of the five pillars of the strategy and ensuring successful collaboration.

The National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030 can be a game-changer for disabled people in this country. I look forward to working with every Member in this Chamber and everyone outside this Chamber to make sure it does what it sets out to do - equal voices, equal actions, equal futures.