People with Disabilities in Ireland
4th Floor Jervis House
Jervis Street
Dublin 1
Telephone: 01 87 21 74 4
Fax: 01 87 21 77 1
Email: info@pwdi.ie
By Michael D. Ringrose, Chief Executive, PwDI
On the face of it much has happened since the Government launched its national disability strategy one year ago last month, promising an extra 1.3 billion euro to the sector up to 2009. Summer saw the controversial Disability Bill finally passed into law.
However, the reality is that the real work only now begins, that is, if it happens at all. For that is the challenge. If the 400,000 people with disabilities, their families and carers are to see real, impactful developments in their daily experiences, then major change will have to take place in the way services are delivered across the entire public sector, nationally and locally. If not, we will see only more of the same ineffectual and patchy practices.
At this point there is no effort to co-ordinate services across Government Departments. The closest we have come to that is the Disability Legislation and Consultation Group (DLCG), which had a significant input to the Disability Bill. The group involved a wide range of representatives from the disability sector, who reported to an inter-departmental co-ordinating committee, chaired by the Department of the Taoiseach. One has to acknowledge, however, that some groups within the DLCG withdrew because the Bill did not go far enough. That is not the issue here, however.
Full co-ordination
The issue is how can full co-ordination be achieved, on an ongoing basis, right across the public sector. A clearly identified authority with overall responsibility for ensuring co-ordination and delivery of services must be appointed. In my view it will need to be located within the Department of the Taoiseach and have designated responsibility for the task.
I would suggest that a first task for such an authority would be to study all current Government spending on disability. Almost every Government department has some part to play in the funding of disability services and supports. While individual Departments do carry out detailed audits of their own spending, this data is not collated in a systematic way. So no one really knows how much is spent, value for money is not attained and best benefit is not achieved for people with disabilities. On the ground, people with disabilities talk about being "on the circuit", constantly referred from one State service to another with deep frustration.
The issue of standards of services is another critical issue. The current absence of standards makes it impossible to judge the quality of services. There is no consistency throughout the country, leading to a lottery based on one's address instead of one's needs. People in rural areas face particular difficulties in accessing services.
Good news
But the good news is that a great deal of very professional and high level work, under the Chairmanship of Professor Vincent Dodd, has gone into the preparation of draft standards. They must now see the light of day and be openly debated. It is deeply frustrating to see them hived off to an interim body.
It is disappointing that a Minister has indicated that implementation of standards would take years. In a Dáil question in March, Mr Tim O'Malley TD, Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children said, and I quote:
"The draft NSDS (National Standards for Disability Services) have been forwarded to the interim HIQA (Health Information and Quality Authority) for its consideration. The implementation process for the NSDS will necessarily involve an incremental process of planning, training and implementation over the coming years."
One has to question the delay. Could it be that vested interests in the form of service providers are stalling? The Government must rethink its position on these standards. We need publication and public discussion and then we need implementation. Standards are an essential step in ensuring that the end user has some guarantee of the quality of service to expect.
Finally, there is one critical element that will make a defining difference on whether or not State services begin to serve the real needs of people with disabilities. That is, the voice of the end user him/herself. It has to be said that there are some very fine examples around the country where people with disabilities and/or their representatives now have a formal consultative status with the Health Boards or the Strategic Policy Committees of Local Authorities. Unfortunately, this is not yet the norm. People with Disabilities in Ireland equally expect to have a formal consultative role with the Department of Health on policy and the Health Services Executive on issues of administration.
Where genuine consultation takes place the minds of administrators and policy makers are opened to a new world that they, through no fault of their own, have never visited or lived in previously. Experience shows that where it happens it results in better services, better communities, and better value for money. Had such consultation happened in Dublin two years ago it would have avoided the need to close the Dart line for the second year in a row, this time to install wheelchair access.
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