I thank the Ceann Comhairle for affording me the opportunity to raise this very important matter on the Adjournment. I should also like to compliment the people from INCARE who made their way to Leinster House and who have been at the gates of our national Parliament all day. I should also like to compliment the staff of Leinster House who assisted in making space available for them in the Public Gallery.
Perhaps the best way to describe the need involved is simply to say that £150,000 is required to run the services provided by INCARE for people with disabilities to the end of the year. In order to describe the services that have been made available it is best for me to quote the following from the hand-out prepared by the organisation:
The first Irish Center for Independent Living (CIL) has become a powerful voice in the community. CIL addresses the issues of independent living, self-determination and options in everything from personal assistance to housing, access to public transportation, education and employment. The guiding philosophy can be summed up in the words "Nothing about us without us".
The Minister who met the group this evening, and those of us who met them during the day, cannot but have been impressed by the degree of enthusiasm, determination and commitment on the part of the Center for Independent Living, those who give the personal assistance, those who provide the care and those who facilitate the disabled in achieving the ultimate in their own development, their goals, in the achievement of equality of living standards and access to employment and educational opportunities to ensure they can be treated equally, which is in accordance with Government policy. I am sure the Minister for Equality and Law Reform likewise would laud their efforts in this area. Essentially, the personal assistants ensure that those who would otherwise be confined to their homes and could not gain access to work or education are enabled to do so by virtue of the availability of the assistants who have done a wonderful job. The pilot programme, set up in 1992 with assistance from the EU Horizon programme, expires this year.
It is essential that the Minister takes on board the work being done by INCARE by giving those who are disabled or physically handicapped, who would otherwise be unable to achieve the ultimate in fulfilment, a new lease of life. It has enabled them to become involved in the economy and in contributing to the gross national product, thereby ensuring that they have helped themselves. The adage is that self help is one's best preparation.
There are people in the public gallery who have clearly illustrated that they are prepared to help themselves. All they require from society is a helping hand. They set up the INCARE programme and proved by their training programme for assistants that it can work. They have also shown they can achieve results.
I ask the Minister to use his good offices to ensure that nothing impedes the development of the INCARE programme. It would be a tragedy if at a time when there is a general awareness — the Minister has shown this since he has became Minister and indeed when he was on the Opposition benches — he was not prepared to continue to give the support to those people at a vital time. While I acknowledge the assistance from FÁS and the Departments of Social Welfare and Health, all have culminated in meeting a need and allowing the people concerned to take their honourable place in society. I ask the Minister to provide the necessary funds to allow them to continue to do so.
