Readers Blog: ‘Community care’ must be matched by funds
Finian McGrath says some families have “dumped” their disabled relatives in residential institutions and have “abandoned” them, never visiting or taking them home. He attempts to advocate for these disabled people. Rightly so.
Mrs O’Dwyer says Finian McGrath has falsely accused her, and others, by implication.
I can only partly understand Mrs O’Dwyer’s upset. She describes the great pain of supporting a disabled family member. I suspect her anger also stems from the fact that this government does little to help the many family members who support their disabled relative in their home. Minister McGrath needs to answer the question: ‘Why has government abandoned these families?’
Minister McGrath is talking about disabled people who have been placed in residential care by families who do not want to care for them. Not families that could not, but that did not. These individuals have been rejected; placed in institutions and abandoned. That’s happening. We cannot shy away from it. But being unable to care for a disabled relative is an entirely different matter.
As far as possible, disabled people should live in the community, with supports to do so. However, to decide on residential placement based on level of impairment (as suggested by proponents of residential care) would institutionalise people who have great support needs, such as artificial ventilation for breathing, nursing care, or related to dressing, washing, eating.
An institution would be their home and there would be no choice. This is already happening and is a human rights issue over freedom of choice and liberty. Human rights that disabled people in Ireland do not have, as Ireland has not yet ratified the UN Convention on Human Rights for people with disabilities (UNCRPD) — the only EU country not to do so.
Finian McGrath favours community living for intellectually impaired people (as I do), and he castigates families who “dump” their disabled family members in institutions.
He fails to see the log in his own eye, that his government allows the “dumping” of disabled people in institutions by the HSE, which refuses funding for independent living.
Only recently in the media. we read of a woman with MS still languishing in hospital, because the HSE alleged it did not have the funds for her to ‘live in community’.
My twin sister and I have a rare neuro-muscular disease and must face a panel of HSE managers to fight for independent living and for a personal assistant. We must fight to remain in the community. So far, Finian McGrath has ignored all our communications and has not yet met with us, though we have asked. He certainly knows about us.
So, if Finian McGrath wants all disabled people out of institutions, living in the community, he must do far more to enable this, with legislated rights and structures, so we can live independently with the necessary supports. He cannot say “disabled people should live ‘in the community”, but not then offer them the means to do so.
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