Children with Disabilities being failed by the State – Labour’s Plan will realise their rights

• Guarantee an appropriate school place for every child with additional needs.
• Fund a €15m Waiting List Initiative to provide assessments of needs and reimburse parents for private therapies.
• Introduce a Cost of Disability payment and reform disability payments.
• Invest in disability services and more accessible transport and housing.
• Develop a new Comprehensive Employment Strategy for people with Disabilities.

Launching Labour’s Disability Manifesto, Party Leader Ivana Bacik outlined our comprehensive plan to realise the rights of people with disabilities and deliver a social model of disability in line with our obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Deputy Bacik said:

“On every canvas in this election we hear from parents frustrated and angry about the delays and obstacles faced by children with additional needs in securing an appropriate school place, accessing an assessment or securing an appointment with an occupational or speech and language therapist. Labour is the only Party not promising reckless tax cuts which are useless to those parents and children who desperately need fully funded and staffed public services.

“Ireland is a country of waiting lists for therapies, treatments, mental health supports and assessments. Labour will invest in public services to change this. The government have no credibility on disability services or school places for children having failed for the last four years to invest in staffing, services, and inclusion.

“Labour has produced a comprehensive and costed Disability manifesto with clear accountability mechanisms. On services for children, Labour will:

• Guarantee an appropriate school place for every child and develop a fully inclusive model of education that vindicates the right to education for all children across the range of disabilities and complies with the UNCRPD and UNCRC. Our approach will mean better long-term planning, multi-annual funding, and the use of Ministerial power to open classes when necessary.
• Immediately review 2025 funding for the Disability Services Action Plan to ensure essential services for child and adult services are adequately resourced.
• As a bridging measure until public services improve, fund a €15m Waiting List Initiative to provide assessments of needs for children waiting the longest, and reimburse parents who must resort to private therapies while waiting for public appointments.
• Mandate the HSE to publish monthly waiting lists for assessment of needs, and therapies to ensure transparency and accountability.
• Invest in pathways to further and higher education, apprenticeships, and bridging services for school leavers with additional needs.

“Our detailed proposals provide for the phased introduction of a cost of disability payment. Labour will also radically transform disability payments, replacing these and the cumbersome income disregard system with an integrated single taxable benefit. Any reforms we make will be made in consultation with DPOs and disabled people. We will also provide discretionary medical cards for all people with disabilities who need it, based on medical need, not income.

“Labour has also today outlined a strategy for ambitious legislative reform, and detailed proposals on employment, childcare, education and training, independent living, housing, transport, and inclusion to remove barriers to equality and ensure disabled people can participate fully in our society and economy.”

ENDS