Seanad debates
Tuesday, 3 December 2019
Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters
Services for People with Disabilities
2:30 pm
Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Finian McGrath to the House and invite Senator Mullen to speak.
Rónán Mullen (Independent)
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Curaim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. I thank the Minister of State for his attendance here today and for his willingness to engage on this important matter. During the Order of Business last week I highlighted an immediate threat to the provision of services for members of the disability community, specifically to the services provided by the National Platform of Self Advocates. As the Minister of State will be aware, the platform is Ireland's first disabled persons' organisation and the only one to consist of and be directed solely at people with intellectual disabilities. It was established in 2011 by people with intellectual disabilities and has been funded by a grant from a private philanthropy organisation. It regularly seeks to progress vital employment opportunities for its members and its national meeting in July of this year focused on that theme.
Unfortunately the private funding has now ceased and in the absence of direct Government assistance, the National Platform of Self Advocates will have to close at the end of the year. I do not have to remind the Minister of State of the vital contribution made by the platform to the comprehensive employment strategy for people with disabilities which runs from 2015 to 2024, a fact he recognised during a debate on the strategy in this House in May. Indeed, as I understand it, the Minister of State has been a significant supporter of the platform over the past 18 months and without his intervention, the platform would have closed at the end of last year.
I seek a response to four very practical questions. My first question is whether the Minister of State will provide clarity on whether the Government, through his Department, has committed itself to respond positively to the requests that have come from the National Platform for Self Advocates. I accept that the answer to my next question is conditional on the answer to the first. Will interim funding be considered that would allow the organisation the space to seek out or apply for other sources of philanthropic or private sector support? My third question is of particular importance. Given that the issues surrounding the impending funding deficit were known for at least 18 months, why has the situation been allowed to deteriorate to this level once again? Finally, I ask the Minister to clarify whether Ireland will stand in breach of its obligations under the terms of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, ratified in March 2018, if it does not support the National Platform for Self Advocates in the way that I am requesting.As the Minister of State is aware, states, including Ireland, are obliged to establish an initiative for building capacity among disabled persons' organisations in consultation with such groups. I look forward to his response.
Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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I thank the Senator for raising this important issue. I agree with him on it and am well aware of the valuable work of the National Platform of Self Advocates. I am glad to have the opportunity to address this issue on this important International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
The Government is committed to providing services and supports for people with disabilities which will empower them to live independent lives, provide greater independence in accessing the services they choose and enhance their ability to tailor the supports required to meet their needs and plan their Iives. The overarching principle governing the planning and delivery of services and supports for adults and children with disabilities is that they should be as integrated as possible with services and supports for the rest of the population. Significant year-on-year budgetary increases in the disability sector have positively impacted on the lived experience of people with disabilities. However, I recognise that daily challenges remain for many people with disabilities and their families.
Addressing the needs and rights of people living with a disability, as well as those of their families, is a priority for the Government and my primary focus as Minister of State with responsibility for disability issues. As the Senator rightly pointed out, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities supports that priority through providing a comprehensive and robust framework for the realisation of rights. The Department of Health and the HSE have responsibility for a significant number of actions under the national disability inclusion strategy, as do several other Departments. The HSE national service plan is focused on providing supports to people with disabilities and enabling them to maximise their full potential as independently as possible.
I share with my ministerial and Government colleagues a strong desire to ensure that people with disabilities are afforded every opportunity to realise their potential in every dimension of their lives. In this regard, disability advocates have been tireless champions in shaping the way we, as a society, think about disability in the context of moving towards social inclusion being accepted as the norm. The National Platform of Self Advocates was established in 2011 by people with intellectual disabilities and was funded by a grant from Atlantic Philanthropies. Unfortunately, that funding ended last year when Atlantic Philanthropies ceased operation. Since then, I have remained in regular contact with the platform to secure its immediate future through interim funding and its long-term future by trying to secure long-term Government funding. I am in constant contact with Government colleagues to secure this funding and will continue those endeavours.
In 2019, the Disability Federation of Ireland, DFI, and Inclusion Ireland will receive HSE grants of €1.2 million and €632,000, respectively, enabling them to ensure that the voices of people with disabilities are heard when it comes to changes in services and legislation that will improve the quality of life and participation in Irish society of people with an intellectual disability. The role of service users in informing health and personal social service provision through advocacy is well documented. Effective service user involvement through organisations such as DFI and Inclusion Ireland enables services to anticipate problems, address complaints, develop appropriate and effective service provision. It guarantees that service users will be at the centre of efforts to improve the quality and safety of service provision for many years to come.
On the Senator's four particular questions, I strongly support the national platform. Over the past two years, I have provided it with interim funding and I will continue to so do until the other issue is resolved. On the Senator's second point, I will respond positively to the organisation because it makes a valuable contribution to Irish society. Ten days ago, I sent a cheque of €5,000 to assist it. Further interim funding will soon be issued. As the Senator rightly pointed out, and in line with the convention, we need a group such as the National Platform of Self Advocates which is involved with mainstream disability groups such as DFI and Inclusion Ireland. Negotiations with it are currently under way.
Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
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Would you like to ask a brief supplementary question, Senator Mullen?
Rónán Mullen (Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State for his reply. Of course what he said after his scripted speech will be welcomed. It was more significant than much of what was in the scripted part. It is on the record and that is appreciated. Obviously, the questions of when and how much will be of great interest to the platform. I thank the Minister of State for that.
My underlying concern - one I have raised previously - is about the credibility of our commitment to truly advancing participatory decision-making for people with physical and intellectual disabilities. I am sure the Minister of State will agree with me on this point. The dimension of people advocating for themselves is absolutely critical.
On paper, our commitments are always watertight. However, recent experience with Cuisle as well as this immediate crisis for the national platform suggests that there is still work to be done towards actively realising those commitments.
Representatives of the disability voluntary sector appeared before the health committee prior to the summer recess. Their testimony, almost to a person, was that the existing framework of support is tottering on a knife-edge of financial and institutional collapse. In fact, to use the words of the representative from Rehab when speaking about the broader disability sector, the house is falling down. I do not mean to be political but it is hard to avoid concurring with that assessment when we see what is happening. Anyway, I thank the Minister of State for his response. We obviously look forward to seeing the meat put on the bones of that response, so to speak.
Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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Clearly, a central goal of the Government's disability service reform is to support people with disabilities to enable them to live independent lives in the community and to make their own choices and decisions. The national platform, as far as I am concerned, is one of the organisations that does this effectively. I have worked with those involved during the past three years since I became a Minister of State. I have them as consultants, I use them as advisers and I give them some interim funding because I respect the work they do. The key thing for me is that I respect the fact that they are disabled people speaking for the disabled and not NGOs or chief executives from big organisations. They are on the ground themselves.
In 2018 I launched the Transforming Lives report on effective participation in decision making. Working group 3 was an inclusive group of people with disabilities, family members and organisations working with people with disabilities and the HSE representatives, thus ensuring that a broad church of opinion was heard during a comprehensive consultative process.
The recommendations arising from the report offer a roadmap - this is the key argument I make with the various Departments - to the effective participation of people with disabilities in making decisions about the design and delivery of the supports they need to live their lives and to live ordinary lives. A representative of the national platform - this is a very important thing - was a member of the strategy group and the advisory group on personalised budgets, for example, thus ensuring that their opinions were taken into account at all times. This led to the publication of the final role. Those involved made a positive contribution.
As I outlined earlier, the Disability Federation of Ireland and Inclusion Ireland receive considerable funding from the HSE to provide advocacy services for people with disabilities. We tried to get some of those involved in assisting in the funding issue but there is something of a blockage - I will be straight with Senator Mullen about that.
It is important to avoid duplication having regard to the availability of resources. This is a point I accept. However, I accept that the national platform has a role to play. As far as I am concerned, those involved have my support and I am continuing to push this within Government. In the meantime, there is no question of it closing. As far as I am concerned, the organisation will get the interim funding from me. However, I am keen to see stable funding. As the Senator rightly pointed out, we need stability in the sector. This organisation has a fantastic three-year plan which I support and which is supportive of me. Senator Mullen can bring this message back to the national platform: I am in there supporting it. It will have interim funding in the coming week or so to keep it going beyond January.