I welcome the opportunity to raise this matter in the context of the announcement this week by the Government of the mainstreaming of certain services for people with disabilities and the responsibility FÁS will have for the employment and vocational training of people with disabilities. As the House is aware, the NSSB has been replaced by Comhairle, and a number of different services for people with disabilities are being transferred to various Departments.
More importantly, I raise this issue in the context of the very high level of unemployment among people with disabilities, estimated to be as high as 80%, which is appalling in the context of the labour shortages and the fact that the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is recruiting people in other countries. I have deliberately addressed the motion to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment rather than to the Departments of Health and Children or Justice, Equality and Law Reform because I raise the matter in the context of employment.
The House is aware that the provision of personal assistants has been the responsibility of various bodies and has proved very unsatisfactory in the past. In some cases health boards are paying personal assistants while in other cases they come under CE or jobs initiative schemes. In all cases there is no long-term security for people with a disability or for people working as personal assistants, which is very unsatisfactory.
This week a number of Deputies from different parties met OASIS, a cross-Border group of people with disabilities. They very strongly made the point that the criteria for access to the CE and jobs initiative schemes are very narrow – it is necessary to be long-term unemployed, in a certain age category, etc. – so that those who would like to become personal assistants through the scheme and who would be good at the job cannot qualify, while those doing the job well have to come off the schemes after a certain period. People with disabilities are looking for a permanent, properly structured and organised solution in terms of providing personal assistants.
A personal assistant can make an enormous difference to the life of a person with a disability. This week every Member of the House received an e-mail from a man who raised the crisis in the provision of personal assistants. He said that because he has a PA he is in full-time employment, was able to purchase his own house and can bring his children out for social occasions and pick them up from school, etc. These are the enormous differences that the provision of a personal assistant can make to the life of a person with a disability. The gentleman also made the point that it is becoming increasingly difficult to get personal assistants because of the wages they are paid under the current schemes. He also pointed out the impractical situation of personal assistants having to travel across the city to his home as they live nowhere near his area.
We need a permanent solution to the problem. The Centres for Independent Living made a pre-budget submission which gave an estimate of £12.6 million for a proper scheme. This is a very small price to pay for the civil rights of people with disabilities and to allow them participate fully in society on a social, employment and educational level. Having a personal assistant makes the difference in terms of being able to participate.
Last year there was a crisis in transport for people with disabilities. Solving the problem was difficult because the issue fell between various Departments. Vantastic was the organisation in Dublin which campaigned at that time, but it is a problem throughout the country. The same problem arises regarding personal assistants, the provision of which falls between various Departments. Therefore, I call on the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment to take on the issue, to provide the necessary funding and to treat it as a jobs issue. It is an employment issue both in terms of personal assistants and the right of those with disabilities to take up employment. The Disability Federation of Ireland suggested the social economy fund could provide funding to establish the scheme on a proper basis.
I call on the Minister to end the uncertainty surrounding the issue of personal assistants and to establish the system on a proper structured basis.