Speech by Anne Rabbitte TD, Minister of State for Disability at the 82ú Ard Fheis

Good afternoon everyone.

It's a pleasure to be here this afternoon to discuss how Fianna Fáil in Government has been supporting people with disabilities in communities right across the country.

Since 2020, one of my aims has been to turn the dial on Disability to show it's not just a health issue.

It's a human rights and equality issue.

People with disabilities need to be supported in accessing all aspects of their community, from Health Supports to Education, Transport to Employment, and from the Arts to Sports.

Having moved from the Department of Health to the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth last year - which was put forward by the Tánaiste - I'm proud to say that the foundations have been laid for a more equality focused approach to supporting people with disabilities into the future.

People with disabilities shouldn't have to be going on the likes of Prime Time or Newstalk to get services. They should just be there for people.

We need to ensure disabled people are supported in living their life the way they want to in their own communities, as any of us can.

And they shouldn't need Miriam O'Callaghan or Andrea Gilligan's support to get this.

In the short time I have, I want to highlight just a few areas that I have invested in so children, adults and families are supported.

Since taking up role as Minister for Disability in 2020, I've secured record breaking funding for Disability Services. It has increased from €2.05 billion in 2020 to €2.8 billion in 2024. That's an uplift of over €700 million.

And I particularly want to thank Minster Michael McGrath and the Tánaiste in supporting me securing such investment.

Budget after Budget has seen major growth in respite services around the country.

I have pushed the respite budget from €70 million to over €100 million, which has added tens of thousands of new bed nights into the system.

More children and adults have access to respite since Fianna Fáil returned to Government.

That's not to say there isn't still a lot to do, there is. But I firmly believe we've turned a corner in recent years.

Budget 2024 will see the single greatest uplift in respite than ever before, with €15m being set aside solely to expand respite services for children and adults.

Families in particular can come under immense strain and this respite allows parents and siblings to get a break and reset, which in turn bolsters the family.

In the coming weeks, I will be announcing a major multi-million euro respite investment plan for this year and the years ahead.

This will see tens of thousands of additional bed nights added to the system for children and adults, as well as alternative respite options such as after school clubs, weekend breaks and tea-time respite.

This is on top of a new respite grant I'll be announcing next month targeted at groups and organisations supporting children, which again will ensure communities are supporting our children with disabilities as best they can.

One of my main areas of concern, and the one that has taken up most of my time as Minister, is the work being done to ensure children have access to therapies such as speech and language, physio, and occupational therapy.

We're all agreed children and families want, need and deserve access to such therapies and that's what I'm working around the clock to achieve.

The HSE has struggled to get its Children's Disability Network Teams on a stable footing. It would be disingenuous to say otherwise.

The Progressing Disability Services programme was brought in under the last Government without the scaffolding required to make it work.

Having met numerous families, providers, clinicians, and the HSE at various levels, I've been working non-stop to retrospectively fix it.

Looking to the future, Fianna Fáil can only but commit to permanently changing the direction of travel for children's services. The status quo is not working as intended.

One of the key mistakes made was the removal of therapists from Special Schools. This should not have happened.

Since 2021, I've secured funding to reverse this but it is taking longer than I would like to get the clinicians back in the schools where they need to be.

I'm currently finalising a pilot to be launched this year, which will see Special Schools given a grant to hire therapists themselves, giving them a secure and stable service for their pupils.

In the next Government, I would like to see this initiative stood up nationally and the broader PDS programme retired as we work towards a school centred therapy programme.

The PDS programme is correct to say that parents play a key role but we cannot ignore the simple fact that children spend most of their days in schools.

That's largely where children should be supported. And that's regardless of whether mainstream or special school status.

By working across both the HSE and NCSE, I believe this new programme can be delivered successfully and I will be fighting strongly for it.

Ultimately, parents just want their children to have access to therapists, which is why I've also been investing tens of millions of euro in our workforce. Without the people, no model of service will work.

I've set aside over €40 million for the recruitment of clinicians to the 91 Children's Disability Network Teams.

Having secured a derogation to the HSE's wider recruitment pause, I ensured the first ever targeted national recruitment campaign for Disability Services took place in January.

It saw around 500 applications reach the HSE, which is fantastic.

These people are now being interviewed and the first of these clinicians should be in place later this month.

And more will be coming on stream over the months ahead.

Before wrapping up, I want to touch on Fianna Fáil's plans to ratify the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

At the outset, Fianna Fáil ensured that ratification of the Optional Protocol to the UNCRPD was included in the Programme for Government and that it would be ratified in the lifetime of this Government.

It has been long called for and work is ongoing to break down the final hurdles before ratification towards the end of the year.

My Department is leading out on a scoping exercise to identify the remaining Departmental and legal issues that need to be addressed before ratification.

I will be pushing for these to be resolved as quickly as possible over the coming months.

To wrap up, I don't doubt there is still a lot of work to do to improve services and supports in place for people with disabilities.

What we've seen from Fianna Fáil in Government is how we can positively impact the lives of thousands of disabled people and ensure they have better and greater access to supports in their communities.

I remain as committed to this role as I was in 2020 and will continue to work towards a better Ireland for people with disabilities, which Fianna Fáil has always strived for.

Thank you.

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