With 650,000 disabled folk, it’s time to recognise actions do speak louder than words
MY MOTHER spent a number of years in a wheelchair after a stroke, and as a family we became familiar with a raft of niggles – from parked cars on footpaths forcing the wheelchair onto the road, to doorways too narrow for access, to restaurants without disabled toilets. But hardest to tolerate were negative attitudes: people behaving as though a disabled person was a nuisance.
Few would come right out and say disability is something they didn’t care about. But actions are the true indicator, and our inaction on disability rights betrays a lack of interest in the challenges faced by this sector of our community.
There is an unemployment rate of more than 70pc among people with a disability, according to research from Social Justice Ireland. A job is about more than earning money: it contributes to our sense of selfworth and participation in society. Aren’t disabled people entitled to that, too? Ireland has just under 650,000 people with disabilities, and they have families affected in a variety of ways, too.
A decade ago, Ireland signed an international convention on the rights of disabled people. This served as a declaration of intent to equalise opportunities and integrate people with mental and physical disabilities into everyday life. Except we didn’t follow through.
Since we signed, all other EU countries have ratified the convention. We have the dubious distinction of being the only one not to do what we said we would. Scores of other countries have also ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Ireland languishes in the bottom 20 worldwide.
Ratification is mentioned in the programme for government. But there is a pattern of ‘we’re working very hard on this’ and ‘we’re totally committed, the Government is behind it and it’s about to happen’ – and nothing does. The suspicion is that civil servants are giving the runaround to Finian McGrath, Minister for State for Disability Issues. He is a long-time disability campaigner, and promised to ratify by Christmas 2016. That deadline expired. Nor will it be met by this Christmas.
An equality/disability bill was introduced but acknowledged to be incomplete, and has not yet been discussed by the relevant Oireachtas committee.
No one can doubt the minister’s good intentions. But one can doubt the level of support he is receiving. Meanwhile, Ireland’s failure to ratify is a recurring point of criticism by the UN.
The International Day of Persons with Disabilities barely registered earlier this month, on December 3. It has been promoted by the United Nations for the past 15 years as part of a strategy to ensure no sector in society would be left behind. However, disabled people in Ireland continue to face extreme marginalisation in some cases.
Many groups have called for ratification. Human rights lawyer Michael Farrell, a prominent campaigner, told the Irish
Independent: “The Good Friday Agreement says there should be equivalence in protection of human rights North and south – the North is governed by the convention but the Republic is not. This creates an anomaly.”
Previous governments have adopted the line that they won’t ratify until all the legislation is completely in order. But ratification helps to push legislation over the line because a country is then subject to a monitoring process and must report to the UN.
Lately, perhaps aware that he is attempting to push a boulder uphill, Mr McGrath has seemed to suggest the Government should ratify with reservations, meaning there would be no obligation to amend the law any time soon. Most organisations representing disabled people oppose that on the grounds that further inaction would ensue. Rehab Group, supporting 17,000 people with disabilities, is among those questioning the usefulness of his proposal.
The minister suggests the position of people with disabilities in Ireland is more advanced than in other European states. But we lag behind with legislation in various areas; for example, in confining people with an intellectual disability involuntarily to mental hospitals. Currently, we rely on judge-led policy, with cases going through the high court on the basis of an individual’s rights being breached. The courts are indicating that the EU convention is persuasive as an example of best practice.
ARECENT example of the courts doing what politicians ought to have tackled involved a visually impaired man, Robbie Sinnott, who won the right to vote privately without assistance. In his judgment, Mr Justice Tony O’Connor praised Mr Sinnott’s “inspiring desire to learn and to participate” and said he shared Mr Sinnott’s concerns about the Department of the Environment’s delays in introducing a system to allow blind people to vote on specially designed tactile ballot papers.
Other litigation has involved the State’s obligation to provide education for people with autism. Currently, they are entitled to schooling up to the age of 18. But children with autism can benefit enormously from continuing education – there are programmes with substantial positive results. However, there is State resistance to providing such services.
Scores of countries have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Ireland languishes in the bottom 20 worldwide. Government ratification is mentioned but nothing happens
Is fear of the expense holding up ratification? I note that enormous sums are spent in other areas – we were on the brink of a general election a matter of weeks ago, which would have cost millions of euro.
Mr Farrell suggests the “paternalistic” view of people with disabilities is contributing to the delay. He said: “The attitude is that they are to be pitied and looked after. But disabled people want to be recognised as having rights, not just needs. Their slogan is Nothing About Us Without Us. However, the State doesn’t want to be required to deal with the rights of disabled people: there is a view that it is for the State to decide what they are entitled to.”
Senator John Dolan, who has used his voice in the Oireachtas to raise non-ratification, believes politicians don’t regard it as a vote-winning issue. “If you listen to politicians talk across the spectrum about the big issues, they are health, housing and Brexit. They never talk about the 13pc of our population with disability issues,” he said.
“The hallmarks of disability and mental health are poverty and exclusion. When people with disabilities, and their families, see nothing happening after being given repeated commitments, they do not have a reasonable hope that things will change. There is a loss of hope for a real life.”
Christmas is a time to be hopeful. But it should be hopeful for all elements of society irrespective of their circumstances. Right now, that’s far from the case.