The failure to implement the Act fully or put something similar in its place runs contrary to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Under Article 4 of the convention, the Government is obliged to ensure that children with a disability are not excluded from the general education system on the basis of their disability. We need to provide a more inclusive society in all aspects of life and that includes education. The new Oireachtas Joint Committee on Disability Matters, which was established …

I commend my party colleagues, Deputies Louise O'Reilly and Claire Kerrane, on submitting this important motion which I am delighted to support. The issue of increasing the pension age energised people during the election campaign in February and that energy is still evident. Raising the pension age affects thousands every year. This number will continue to increase if it is not rectified. First, mandatory retirement at 65 years, except perhaps in some security-related employment, should be abolished. Everyone shou…

I have been contacted by the parents of a two-and-a-half-year-old boy who has been on the waiting list for an assessment for autism for 12 months. They have been told he will have to wait a further six to eight months for this. This child is practically non-verbal. He needs speech and language therapy immediately but he cannot access it until he is assessed. The parents have been told that some staff are still redeployed to contact tracing, which is adding to the delay. Another parent was in contact. Her son is six…

I have been contacted by several constituents who have received letters from their dentists stating that the latter are withdrawing from the medical card scheme. This appears to be widespread. I have heard from dentists who have told me that the issue of personal protective equipment, PPE, is the straw that broke the camel's back. They say that the dental treatment services scheme, DTSS, has not been increased since 2007, is a sham and is not fit for purpose. Practice owners will survive without the medical card sc…

Last week, Safe Ireland, working with 39 front-line services, presented a new report, Tracking the Shadow Pandemic, which traces the prevalence of domestic abuse and coercive control during the months from March - the start of the first lockdown - to August. The figures are stark. Over the six-month period, 3,450 women and 589 children contacted a domestic violence service for the first time. Almost 34,000 helpline calls were answered, which is an average of 184 a day. During the six months from March to August, 1,…

One of the most serious issues in my area and elsewhere in Cavan is that of drug misuse and the crime associated with it. At one time, this would have been thought of as an urban issue but that is no longer the case. It is an issue in every town and village and every rural area. Young people are constantly being brought into this seedy world without realising the consequences. Some are attracted by the promise of easy money from doing drops or acting as a courier for drug dealers but more often than not, it is a ma…

Has the Government plans in place to replace the EU cross-border directive on the island of Ireland? Hospitals in the North have been told by the HSE just this week that they will not reimburse any new clients for operations after 1 January. Those who have had a consultation before the end of the year will be reimbursed if they are in the system, even if the procedure goes into next year, but not those who seek to attend for the first time after 1 January. The option to travel to the Continent for these procedures …

I was contacted this week by the family of a 93-year-old woman who is living alone in a house which is extremely damp and necessitates keeping the heating on constantly. She applied to the better energy warmer homes scheme but she was refused because she had the attic in her house insulated about 20 years ago. This is a very good scheme which aims to improve the energy efficiency and warmth of homes for pensioners and those on lower incomes, and it is also beneficial for the environment. However, it should be on a …

I support the motion and the amendment tabled by my colleague, Deputy O'Rourke. I fully agree with the proposal put forward in the Grant Thornton report commissioned by the IPU, which indicates a €17 million PSO contract as the only realistic solution to support the post office network, as well as serious consideration of what further Government services could be put through the post office network to make it more viable. There have been concerted efforts over the past number of years to get people on certain socia…

Will the SEC stand over the leaving certificate results of students who choose to sit the exams in November of this year? Can those exams be comparable to those of previous years, considering the students have been out of school for months, unable to undertake practical exams in several subjects and oral examinations and course work have not been finished?

I thank the Minister. Was the main reason not to proceed with the exams in July and August that the SEC would not stand over the exams? What is different now? It would not matter whether the exams were held in July and August or are held in November and December because the same issues apply. Students have been out of school for months and have had little or no teaching. Their course work may not even have been finished in some subjects and little revision was undertaken. Project work was not completed, orals were …

The Minister did not answer the question about the SEC. I thought that one of the reasons the exams did not proceed in July and August was that the SEC would not stand over them. It has been a tough year for the leaving certificate class of 2020. Those students have been out of school since March and did not get to sit their exams. When they got their results, there was a mixed reaction, and most felt dismay when they received their teacher-allocated grades. Many were downgraded in up to three subjects and the poin…

The €100 million in additional funding for disability services is welcome and I commend the Government on this allocation. I commend all those families and providers that worked so hard to bring this about. That they were left so long and had to fight so hard is an indictment of this and previous Governments, though, and much more needs to be done, but it is a good first step. Although I welcome the allocation, I do so with caution. It is apparently for new measures, but Sinn Féin proposed an allocation of €130 mil…

I was contacted by a parent of an 18-year-old young man who had an acute mental illness. He suffered from it for approximately a year. She told me he had regular appointments when he was under the adolescent services and that the support he got was very good, but since he turned 18 in February he has only had two appointments. He was supposed to have an appointment on 30 September but it was cancelled at short notice. He was promised there would be a follow-up phone call but it never came. When the family rang the …

I move: "That Dáil Éireann: acknowledges that: — families, carers and service providers have been stretched to incredible lengths, many to breaking point throughout the course of this pandemic; — the personal toll and long-term impact of the withdrawal of care and supports for people with disabilities, their families and their carers is deeply worrying; — due to Covid-19, disability services that rely on voluntary fundraising to meet operating costs have been unable to do so; — services are suffering from chronic u…

I thank all Members for their contributions to this very important debate but I am disappointed by the response of the Government parties to the motion. The Ministers of State, Deputies Rabbitte and Butler, and Deputy Moynihan are just as aware as any of the rest of us are of the circumstances that people with disabilities or dementia and their families are in. They have been informed of the difficulties that they face daily. We all know that tea and sympathy is just not what they need; they need action. It is time…

I wish to commend Deputy Whitmore and the Social Democrats on introducing this motion, which I fully support. The fact that more than 200,000 children are living in poverty in Ireland today is a disgrace and is an issue that must be addressed immediately. Children living in poverty miss out on so much; it is very tough on them. They miss out on the things we take for granted such as warm clothes, participating in activities and going on school trips. Before being elected, I taught in a secondary school in Cavan. La…

People have raised with me the issue of the primary medical certificate in one of the areas in Westmeath. It is not in my constituency but as disability spokesperson they came to me. They informed me there has been a waiting list of 45 applications since March. The offices are closed and people are working from home. It requires a face-to-face interview. That is causing the delay. Many of these people are in dire circumstances. Could this be speeded up or dealt with, please?

I want to raise the issue of children waiting for psychological assessments. The waiting list is quite long as it is but it has been exacerbated by Covid. Many psychologists have been drafted in to conduct testing and tracing. As a result, many children are waiting on the list and they cannot get the supports they need without the assessments. Can the Minister give me an update on that?

I welcome the Bill brought forward by Deputy Colm Burke and the regulation it proposes to introduce for this sector. I would fully support any policy or legislation which seeks to put in place the necessary supports to allow older people or people with disabilities to remain living in their own homes. Demand for care services is due to rise in the coming years as the population of older people grows. A capacity review that was carried out by the Department of Health estimated that a 120% increase in home care provi…