Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 14 Jun 2000

Vol. 521 No. 2

Adjournment Debate. - Services for People with Disabilities.

Ms O'Sullivan

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 As the House is aware, the NSSB has been replaced by Comhairle, and a number of different services for people with disabilities are being transferred to various Departments.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.

Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children (Ms Hanafin)

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. The Tánaiste has asked me to reply on her behalf. The primary purpose of the community employment scheme as an active labour market programme is to reintegrate long-term unemployed persons into open labour market jobs. CE provides unemployed people with temporary opportunities whereby they can develop their skills and obtain a recent track record of work experience.

CE was restructured during 1999 to take account of the tightening labour market and to refocus the programme on older persons and those most removed from the labour market. The restructuring also improved the position of women with regard to access to the programme by giving qualified adults, that is, adult dependants of long-term unemployed persons, and widows and widowers access in their own right.

The target average participation on CE this year is 35,520 and there is provision for up to 2,875 places on the jobs initiative programme. These programmes are being provided at a budgeted cost of £316 million in 2000. The Government has also provided £10 million for the new social economy programme which is expected to be up and running shortly. This programme has provision for 670 full-time places in the current year.

As provided for in the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness, issues regarding the mainstreaming of essential services currently provided by community employment participants, including services for the disabled, will be considered by the PPF standing committee on the labour market, chaired by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. The committee is comprised of representatives from relevant organisations and Departments, including the Departments of Finance and Social, Community and Family Affairs, CORI, the INOU, the ICTU, the National Youth Council of Ireland, the IBEC and FÁS. Other organisations and agencies as may also have an interest in the work of the committee will also be invited to participate.

A CE audit of essential services undertaken in November 1999 identified 1,822 CE participants engaged in providing services for disabled persons. These services are classified as a priority by FÁS and have been protected from the reductions which have been imposed on other categories of projects such as the environment and education sectors.

The Tánaiste is aware that the short-term nat ure of CE participation, three years being the maximum term, is not compatible with the needs of disabled persons who need a constant companion and helper and as little disruption in their lives as possible. She has asked her Department to consider all options in regard to the personal assistance service provided under the community employment scheme to ensure disabled persons dependent on carers are not adversely affected by the restructuring of the programme. To this end the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is pursuing the possible mainstreaming of these services with the Department of Health and Children which has primary responsibility for funding in this area.

It is proposed to discuss the modalities of mainstreaming CE essential services directly with relevant Departments initially before reporting to the standing committee on issues arising from these discussions. Consultations with the Department of Education and Science with regard to the mainstreaming of CE school services are already under way in this respect.

The Programme for Prosperity and Fairness provides for a range of measures to improve the participation of people with disabilities in open labour market employment. Disincentives will be identified and addressed. FÁS now has responsibility for the training and progression to employment of the disabled and is committed to achieving a more integrated, mainstream approach than has been achieved to date.