Mary Lou McDonald: Demands Emergency Disability Payment

In last October's budget of 9.4 billion euros, you made the very cruel decision to leave disabled people worse off by 1,400 euros. And since then, life has become so much harder for everybody, but all the more so if you're a disabled person who has fallen farther and farther behind. Our dull motion last night called on your government to do two things. Firstly, to deliver an emergency 500 euro cost of disability payment now. And secondly, to introduce a new permanent cost of disability scheme. But instead of listening, you pushed back. You rejected our motion and the amendment that you brought forward is an insult to disabled people. It's consultation after consultation for you, report after report, when you know exactly what needs to be done, what the issues are, and yet you tell disabled people to wait. It's the same for carers. At the rate you're going, it'll take 30 years to abolish the means test for carers. No urgency at all. Yesterday, your government announced the new autism assessment protocol, but one of the first things from the Health Minister's mouth is that you won't have enough staff for the new assessment centres. I mean, good God, who announces new centres knowing that you don't have the staff to make them work? In a situation where more than 20,000 children are waiting for an assessment of needs, with thousands of children with disabilities waiting for therapies, supports and services, with hundreds of children with additional needs waiting for a school place, with thousands of children in inappropriate school placements. Every single summer, parents face a battle to find an appropriate school place for their child the following September. And despite all of the big promises made by your government, this summer is no different. Tonight in Cabra, in my own community, parents will hold a meeting on this issue again. And we will hear more stories of pressure again, of rejection letters piled high on the kitchen table. I know one mother who has had 17 rejection letters for their child. We'll hear stories of children being offered school places that don't exist, in classrooms that haven't been opened or even built. Do you know what that does to a parent, Taoiseach? Do you know what that does to a child? We'll also hear anger that the window for July provision applications, summer educational support for children with additional needs, was open for only one week this year. What's that all about, Taoiseach? In previous years, the window was open for months. And this unreasonable timeframe means that so many children will miss out on vital education support this summer. Why are you making life so difficult for these families, Taoiseach? You need to immediately reopen the application window to allow schools to get their applications in. Tá féanna fáil agus feanna go léidh tepe díoní fái bhí comas agus páistí le ríochtinas bresa le blíonta fadach. Cáthair déire a chur leis. Tá sé an aondan ríochtas mas a léirú agus serfísí a tachíocht ceart a chur ar fóil. Taoiseach, the failure of disabled people and children with additional needs is immense. I've raised just three issues with you today, but I could go on and I could go on. But I appeal to you, Taoiseach, deliver the cost of disability scheme. Resource the new autism assessment centres. Guarantee an appropriate school place for every child in September. And for goodness sake, reopen immediately the application window for July provision. Taoiseach, please. Go raibh maith agaibh ríocht naíon tíomh leat. Tá anach éid d'éint againn agus gan awras tar fad níos món le d'éint a bhfuidh againn madair le díoní le mí chomais. Agus an uinneas léachtair tá coraistácha againn, go tháireithe san chánais neis a bhfuidh againn an noraig, stócha an méidúas is mó a bhí ríocht in aon chánais neis. But to say at the outset that the investment in disability has been very strong and in the last budget, actually, one of the largest increases ever in disability services, up to 20% of an increase, which is significant and is having an impact, particularly in terms of service providers out there who are providing services to people with disabilities. In respect of cost of disability, you are being somewhat disingenuous by pretending that it's one consultation after another and this is simple, just go and do it. It's not that simple. We are looking, potentially, at over 1 million people who identify with a disability in the census and that's about 22% of the population and you can go through all the various age categories, it's not that simple. And Minister Kaleri has organised, as you know, a significant public consultation and with significant responses in terms of that public consultation. I attended the Strategic Focus Network Summit on the cost of disability back in mid May, about the 13th of May. It brought together all of the key stakeholders to share perspectives to inform our approach. This is a significant initiative, it's a complex one. It's better that we do this in a structured, targeted way that those most in need will avail of and be benefited by it, not just a once-off payment. That won't work on a sustainable basis. So work is on the way now to bring together all the views and the evidence and Minister Kaleri will bring forward a paper in July in respect of the cost of disability, a payment arising out of all of that consultation and then we will assess that in the context of the estimates for decisions for the next budget. The last budget, as I said, deliberately prioritised permanent structural supports that will endure in five and in ten years' time. The core rates went up significantly. Child support payments went up dramatically again. For any child over 12 went up 16 euros to 78, the child support payment, and for anybody under 12, 8 to 58. And there's been a sustained increase in child support payments over the last number of weeks. On education, again, you're deliberately ignoring the dramatic increases in resources in education in terms of special needs assistance, special education teachers, also classes. And we will have places for children next As you know, with the decision of the early entry portal, many more applied than was either anticipated and many are within 6,000 children within existing mainstream schools applying for special class status, which will be provided for, and very substantial additional resources have been allocated to meet that need. But no one can deny the extraordinary and very significant investment, rightly so, in special education. It's quite significant. Sorry, again, Deputy, you have an awful habit of interrupting. I've never interrupted you once in anything you do. Sorry. I beg your pardon? Okay, we'll leave it. You have your opportunity now. Please, I would just ask for everybody to be respectful. There are a lot of people in the gallery. These are important issues and I think it's important when the head of government addresses them that he's audible and clear and that I can hear him. You see, it's not a case of whether you agree with me or not, Taoiseach. What you seem singularly unable to do or to acknowledge is the experience, the real experience of disabled people who are telling you and have told you for quite some time that they are struggling financially. At times, they have told stories of making choices between heating and eating, but even in scenarios that are not that extreme, they are under huge pressure. And you're right, a one-off payment isn't the be-all and end-all, but they need that now and they also need a cost of disability scheme. And for all of your palaver about what you've done and you're clapping yourself on the back, I have a letter here from one mother who's explaining what she's living now because her child doesn't have the guarantee of a place, a school place, in September. She says about watching time run out while everybody else's child moves forward, her frustration at having to repeatedly prove her child's need to the system. She talks about the uncertainty that goes with the guilty anger. Can you please tell everybody, are you currently seeing a school place for every child? Are you reopening schools? Deputy MacDonald, your time is up. Taoiseach. First of all, I recognise the issues facing people with disabilities. The first thing I did in government was to set up a special disability unit within my department to prioritise and to drive delivery of services and to improve them in every single government department and in the whole of government approach. We've established a cabinet sub-committee on disability to deal with all aspects of public services, departmental responses and we've launched a human rights strategy in respect of disabled people. So the prioritisation is clear and the investments have followed that prioritisation, especially in special education. In many more new special schools in the last 12 months again established. Many more, hundreds and hundreds of additional special classes. Staff numbers are up 27% since 2020 in special education. We now will have 26,000 special needs assistants by the beginning of the next school year. you