Funding cuts hurt disabled people

FUNDING cutbacks targeted at citizens heretofore entitled to the special protection and care of the State are a sad reflection on our Government’s social inclusion policy and they also make a mockery of equality/disability legislation.

People with disabilities rightly received specific mention in the Equal Status Act to protect their rights as equal citizens.

The Disability Act, heralded as ‘rights-based’ and the holy grail for people with disabilities as far as the Government was concerned, undertook to uphold the right of such people to participate fully in Irish society.

Those of us who were suspicious of a little caveat in the Disability Act have now found out that our suspicions were well-founded.

The wording which aroused suspicion was that the State would provide a quality and comprehensive range of services to people with disabilities but would only do so “as far as practicable and subject to resources”.

One cannot state that a piece of legislation is rights-based and then include a little opt-out clause which is now evidently being relied upon to justify the decision to cut funding for the provision of personal assistants (PAs) to people with disabilities in Cork.

The decision to cut €50,000 from the budget of an independent living service provider has forced the organisation to cut personal assistants’ services by 15%. This budget-trimming action is totally at variance with previous State commitments to promote the community care model, which essentially requires the provision of adequate funding to keep people with disabilities out of institutionalised care. The independent living model has been universally accepted as the most progressive way to improve the quality of life of people with disabilities. There are of course exceptions when people with disabilities who have a high dependency level choose care in hospitals or care institutions.

Those who have chosen the independent living model and live in the community wishing to be self-reliant were promised the necessary State support, ie, a personal assistant to help the service users do things they could not do by themselves.

The State can actually make financial savings by promoting independent living, thus keeping people out of institutionalised care

The State must also acknowledge, however, that the provision of personal assistants is fundamental to promoting the concept of independent living.

Disabled people cannot live independently if their personal assistant is withdrawn solely because of budget considerations.

If the Government is serious about its commitment to people with disabilities, then it needs to do two things immediately — ratify the UN convention on the rights of People with Disabilities (which has been long-fingered to date) and ensure its efforts at financial rectitude do not include service cutbacks for people with disabilities.

Donie O’Leary

Chairman Cork Network

PwDI (People with Disabilities in Ireland)

Penrose Wharf

Penrose Quay

Cork