General Election
2020:
A Manifesto for Disability
Inclusion
January 2020
This document is written in font 12 Verdana in line with Inclusion
Ireland plain English guidelines
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About Inclusion Ireland
Established in 1961, Inclusion Ireland is a national, rights based advocacy
organisation that works to promote the rights of people with an
intellectual disability.
The vision of Inclusion Ireland is that of people with an intellectual
disability living and participating in the community with equal rights.
Inclusion Ireland’s work is underpinned by the values of dignity, inclusion,
social justice, democracy and autonomy and we use the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) to guide
our work.
Introduction
Ireland is holding a General Election on the 8th of February 2020. This
election gives people with disabilities, their families and interested
community members an opportunity to vote for candidates to represent
them in Dáil Éireann.
Elected representatives (TD’s) in this forthcoming election have an
opportunity to show that people with disabilities matter, and they will put
issues related to disability on their agenda when they are elected. This
paper sets out what actions elected representatives can take in relation to
disability under three key themes:
1. Ensuring the Rights and Participation of People with Disabilities
2. Supporting Community Inclusion
3. Addressing the Causes of Poverty
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1. Ensuring the Rights and Participation of People with
Disabilities
United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities
With the UNCRPD being ratified in 2018, Ireland is at an important
juncture where leadership must be shown by Government and all elected
representatives on its implementation. One important aspect of this
leadership is the implementation of the Convention across all Government
Departments. It is therefore important that the lead role is taken by the
Department of the Taoiseach in respect of the UNCRPD. Having the
responsibility placed within the Taoiseach’s Department will ensure that
issues related to disability will not be viewed separately but rather as the
responsibility of each Government Department.
Further to implementation of the Convention is the ratification at the
earliest opportunity of the Optional Protocol. The Optional Protocol is the
complementary enforcement mechanism to the UNCRPD.
The benefit of the Optional Protocol is that individuals or groups of
individuals can take complaints against their State for violations of their
rights under the UNCRPD. Organisations and individuals can lodge a
complaint which can then be followed up by an inquiry undertaken by the
UNCRPD Committee. The majority of European countries have ratified the
Optional Protocol.
Inclusion Ireland is asking all elected representatives to ensure that the
UNCRPD is implemented and that during their term in office, they vote
with the UNCRPD in mind. This year’s election is a significant opportunity
for elected representatives to show a commitment to promoting the rights
of people with disabilities and their families.
Inclusion Ireland Asks:
Ratify the Optional Protocol of the UNCRPD within one year of the
formation of the next Government
Locate the responsibility for implementation of the UNCRPD within
the Department of the Taoiseach
Departments Responsible:
The Department of the Taoiseach and All Government Departments
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Assisted Decision-Making
The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 was enacted at the end
of 2015. Full commencement is the next critical step to ensure that individuals with disabilities have the support to exercise decision-making
and choice in their lives.
The National Disability Inclusion Strategy committed to establishing the Decision Support Service (DSS) in 2017, to commence the Assisted
Decision-Making (Capacity) Act, to develop the associated Codes of Practice, and to promote and provide training in early 2018.
The establishment of the DSS is crucial to compliance with the UNCRPD,
in particular the right to legal capacity (Article 12). Although the DSS was established in October 2017, progress has been painfully slow and at
present there is no expected date for the DSS to be operational. In the
interim period, people are being made Wards of Court at alarming rates.
The urgent need for the DSS has been well established and it is a crucial element in complying with Article 12 of the UNCRPD. It is essential that
the Director is given adequate resources to execute her functions, including promoting public awareness, providing information, supervising
compliance by decision-making assistants, co-decision-makers, decision-making representatives and attorneys and carrying out investigations.
Inclusion Ireland Asks:
Adequately fund the Decision Support Service and fully implement
the Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) Act
Departments Responsible:
The Department of Justice and Equality
Participation People with disabilities have the right to participate in public and political
life and in decisions that impact on their lives. However, they continue to face barriers to their full participation on an equal basis with others.
A lack of accessible information, negative or stereotyped attitudes, physical and environmental barriers all act as barriers to participation and
inclusion. To comply with Articles 291 and 302 of the UNCRPD, all public
1 Article 29, UNCRPD 2 Article 30, UNCRPD
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services must actively promote an environment that supports and enables participation.
Inclusion Ireland Asks:
The HSE must be funded to actively engage people with disabilities
in the planning, design, delivery and evaluation of services and
facilities and to fully implement the Plan for Effective Participation
The Department of Justice and Equality must consult and support
people with intellectual disabilities nationally in the development of
their Participation Framework
Train Departmental and public service staff to facilitate meaningful
consultation and engagement with people with disabilities. This
work should be done in line with the analysis and recommendations
in the HSE’s guidelines on the effective participation of people with
disabilities in planning and decision-making3
Departments Responsible:
Department of Health
Department of Justice and Equality
2. Supporting Community
Inclusion
Housing and De-institutionalisation
One of the biggest issues facing people with intellectual disabilities in
relation to housing is the absence of joined-up services and the poor
3Plan for Effective Participation in Decision-Making (2018), Planning for Ordinary Lives in
Ordinary places
Quotes from people with lived experience
“We need to ratify the Optional Protocol right away”
“People with disabilities have rights and they should be respected”
“People shouldn’t be living in institutions anymore, that’s against what the
Convention says”
“Intellectual Disability people are seen as separate – invisible”
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collaboration between Government Departments regarding the availability
and co-ordinated delivery of houses and the support services required to
live independently.
Article 28 of the UNCRPD states that State parties must ensure there is
equal access by persons with disabilities to public housing programmes 4.
However, people with disabilities pinpoint the lack of available supports as
one of the biggest barriers to accessing housing, with people with
disabilities finding it difficult to access disability services unless they are in
a crisis situation.
A crisis could be the following:
(a) Where a person’s care needs change drastically and can’t be
managed at home
(b) Where a carer themselves becomes ill (e.g. Dementia or a
stroke)
(c) Where a carer passes away
If a person with an intellectual disability is not already in receipt of
residential support services, there is no clear pathway for a person to
attain support services from HSE Disability Services and gain access to
residential support services in their communities, irrespective of where
they are living.
As it stands, the HSE appears to have no budget for providing these
supports or pathway to them. There is also no waiting list recorded and
no stats gathered to inform future planning around housing and support
need.
Inclusion Ireland’s understanding of deinstitutionalisation and community
living is informed by the UNCRPD and the Committee on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities General Comment no. 5 on living in the
community (Article 19)5. This acknowledges that deinstitutionalisation
involves more than just the closure of large, residential settings. It is
about removing institutional cultures and practices and ensuring that
accessible, inclusive housing, services and supports are available to
persons with disabilities in community settings.
It is clear that many services in Ireland still employ institutional practices
as defined by the UNCRPD; these have been highlighted in numerous
HIQA reports. Ireland’s policy of segregating people with disabilities was
due to end by 2018, but was watered down significantly in the 2016
program for government with the latest figures showing that 2,136
4 Article 28, UNCRPD 5 General Comment 5, UNCRPD.
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people with disabilities in Ireland remain living in large, institutional
settings6. In addition, over 5000 people are living in residential services,
many of which offer limited choice or genuine community inclusion, and
many thousands more living at home with ageing parents and limited
supports7.
Action needs to be taken to end this segregation. This goes beyond the
closure of institutions and involves putting in place the community-based
supports to ensure the full inclusion of people with disabilities in their
communities.
Inclusion Ireland asks:
The HSE must receive an adequate budget to address the issue of
support services for people with intellectual disabilities, ensure
there is a standardised process where people can apply to receive
these support services, and ensure that these applications are
recorded so that people can access housing in the community
Ring-fence 7% of local authority housing stock for people with
disabilities
Accelerate the de-congregation process so that institutional settings
are closed over the lifetime of the next government.
Departments Responsible:
The Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government
The Department of Health
Ensure Accessibility
Persons with intellectual disabilities have a right to access public services in a manner that is understandable and accessible to them. As well as
their Public Sector Duty, public services have obligations under the Disability Act 2005 to ensure that their services are accessible to people
with disabilities in line with Article 9 of the UNCRPD8.
One example of this is Changing Places. Changing Places are different
from standard accessible toilets in that they provide extra space and facilities such as a hoist and a changing bench. These are features that
are not available in standard accessible toilets. Many parents are forced to change a family member on the floor of public toilets, and many people
with disabilities do not take an active part in their communities out of fear of having to use inadequate toilet facilities while they are out.
6 Time to Move on from Congregated Settings, A Strategy for Community Inclusion
Annual Progress Report (2018) 7 National Federation of Voluntary Service Providers (2019) 8 Article 9, UNCRPD
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In Ireland there are only 12 registered Changing Places toilets, with 8 in
Dublin. It is important that Part M of the Building Regulations is changed to make it mandatory for new public buildings to be ‘universally
designed’, thereby incorporating Changing Places facilities.
Accessibility should not be limited to physical access but should include accessible information as well, in line with Article 21 of the UNCRPD9.
People with intellectual disabilities should have access to accessible information in order to understand information and be included in their
communities. It is important that TD’s put an emphasis on this in their next term and that Government Departments ensure information is
provided that is accessible to all.
Inclusion Ireland asks:
Implement the National Disability Authority ‘Code of Practice on
Accessibility of Public Services and Information provided by Public Bodies’ and the NDA Accessibility Toolkit.
Promote access and participation by people with disabilities in the
design and implementation of local services
Ring-fence funding for local authorities to install changing places in
public spaces and change Part M of the building regulations for new builds
Ensure that print and digital information about all services provided is available in accessible formats that are easy to read and
understand.
Departments Responsible:
All Government Departments
Transport Accessibility
Article 910 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities (UNCRPD) places an obligation on States Parties to ensure
persons with disabilities have access on an equal basis to transport,
information and services in both rural and urban areas. The UNCRPD
requires states parties to take measures to identify and eliminate barriers
to accessibility.
Inclusion Ireland asks:
Ensure that future planning of transport services facilitates linkage
between different forms of transport
9 Article 21, UNCRPD 10 Article 9, UNCRPD
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Ensure that planning and design facilitates easy access to public transport transfer points by people with disabilities e.g. good
distribution of disabled parking spaces and appropriate ramps on paths
Ensure that the Health (Transport Support) Bill is passed to
establish a transport support scheme11
Departments Responsible:
The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport
The Department of Health
Mental Health Services for People with Intellectual
Disabilities
The ratification of UNCRPD affirmed that all persons with a disability must
enjoy the same fundamental human rights and basic freedoms as those
without a disability.
A Vision for Change advocated for the development of 29 mental health
teams for adults with ID nationally and 15 for children in 2007, and these
teams would have 10 members each (290 team members in total for
adults and 150 for children)12. However, Mental Health Intellectual
Disability (MHID) services remain at 33% for Adults and 12% for children
of the level that was envisaged in A Vision for Change.
Families and people with intellectual disabilities tell us that they feel
invisible and poorly treated by the Mental Health services that they are
struggling to access any kind of service when they experience a mental
health crisis. Some areas have no MHID service or very limited service
and 47.5% of adults with an Intellectual Disability over 40 have an
emotional, nervous or psychiatric condition13. This is almost twice the rate
of mental health problems of the general population.
The HSE’s Mental Health Services has established a National MHID
Programme, and a key part of the programme’s work is the development
and roll out of a targeted funding plan to establish a minimum basic
service level. It is important that funding is immediately made available
for this programme so that all people with an intellectual disability will
have access to a basic minimum level of mental health service.
11 The two previous transport support schemes were discontinued in 2013 12 A Vision for Change (2006) 13 IDS, TILDA
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Inclusion Ireland asks:
Make adequate funding available for the HSE National Mental Health
Intellectual Disability (MHID) Programme
Departments Responsible:
The Department of Health
3. Addressing the Causes of
Poverty
Cost of Disability and Poverty
The UNCRPD, is clear on the need to eradicate poverty for persons with
disabilities. Article 2814, which is concerned with an adequate standard of
living and social protection, requires States to “ensure access by persons
with disabilities…to social protection programmes and poverty reduction
programmes”.
In Ireland, people with disabilities are more than three times as likely to
experience consistent poverty as the general population15. Persons with a
disability experience much higher rates of deprivation which means they
14 Article 28, UNCRPD 15 CSO (2018). SILC
Quotes from people with lived experience
“People should be able to live in their own place in the community
“People like me should be able to access supports from the HSE to get
housing”
“There should be more accessible buildings for people with disabilities “
“It’s not easy for people to use buses and trains as they are now”
“Information should be in easy to read for people with intellectual
disabilities”
“Getting services is so hard - No-one wants us”
“I am not seen as a real person “
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go without some of the basic necessities for living. Specific measures to
address the cost of disability are necessary in order to reduce poverty
among persons with disabilities and these measures must assess and
address the extra costs that people face as well as increasing income.
Inclusion Ireland welcomed the commitment towards research on cost of
disability given by Minister Regina Doherty in 2018 and the subsequent
announcements that that this research will be finished and published by
quarter 2 of 2020. It is hoped that this research will help to determine
what the drivers of extra costs are for persons with disabilities in an Irish
context and how the extra costs can be addressed.
It is important that following the publication of this report, that action is
taken and that the recommendations from the report are implemented.
Inclusion Ireland believes that a cost of disability payment should be
available to all eligible persons with a disability, not just those in receipt
of a social protection payment, in acknowledgment of the extra costs
accrued by those who have a job.
An individually assessed, non-means tested benefit payment, similar in
nature to the Personal Independence Payment in the UK should be
introduced to support mobility and daily living.
Inclusion Ireland’s asks:
Complete the Indecon research and introduce a Cost of Disability
payment without delay
Departments Responsible:
The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection
Education
Article 24 of the UNCRPD states that children with disabilities should be
educated in the general education system alongside their peers without disabilities. Inclusion Ireland believes that the next government must
invest in education and reform certain aspects of the current system to pave the way for children with disabilities to be fully included in the general education system.
If the next government is in any way serious about inclusive education for
children with disabilities, they must implement the now 16-year-old EPSEN Act 2004. This gives a child with a disability a right to an
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assessment of their education needs and access to an individual education plan that addresses any identified need.
At present there is 109,61316 children educated in a class of more than 30
pupils. These super-sized classes make for a difficult environment for children with intellectual disabilities in which to learn. The next government must ensure no child is educated in a super-sized class.
Initial teacher training must contain a more robust element on special
education so new teachers have the necessary skills to teach all children. Teachers tell us that they do not have the necessary training or time to
plan for and teach children with disabilities effectively.17 The next government must introduce mandatory Continuing Professional
Development (CPD) to ensure all existing teachers requiring upskilling can avail of training that will enhance their skills to teach children with disabilities in their classes.
Children and schools have significant difficulty in accessing the various
therapy services such as speech and language therapy or occupational therapy that will improve a child’s learning experience. Many children
languish years on waiting lists missing out on the golden opportunity for early intervention.18
Inclusion Ireland’s asks:
Publish a plan to fully commence the EPSEN Act within the lifetime of the next government.
Review initial teacher training to ensure all new teachers have the necessary skills to teach all children with disabilities. Introduce
mandatory CPD for existing teachers who do not have a
qualification or recent CPD in special education. Invest in teaching posts to ensure no child is educated in a super-
sized class. Over the life of the next government, 60 therapists must be
recruited each year (total, 300).
Departments Responsible:
The Department of Education and Skills
The Department of Health
Employment Article 27 of the UNCRPD affirms the right of persons with disabilities to work, on an equal basis with others. People with disabilities experience
16 CSO, Education Statistics Database, 2019. 17 Achieving inclusive schools: the teachers perspective, April 2019, ASTI 18 Health Services Performance Profile July - September 2019 Quarterly Report, HSE
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multiple barriers to accessing employment, including financial barriers, negative societal attitudes, environmental barriers, the education system
and lack of opportunity.
Just 36% of people with disabilities of working age and 17% of people with an intellectual disability are in employment19 and this indicates a
societal problem that needs urgent addressing using the range of strategies outlined in the Comprehensive Employment Strategy for People
with Disabilities (CES).
The National Disability Inclusion Strategy includes a target to increase the public sector employment target of persons with disabilities from 3% to
6% by 2024. The National Disability Authority publishes an annual report on public sector compliance. The most recent data available show that in
2017, public bodies reported that 3.5% of employees working in the
public sector are people with disabilities20.
The Comprehensive Employment Strategy also sets out the value of individualised support from a job coach in supporting people with
intellectual disabilities to find and keep jobs. A job coach, as described by the CES, works to prepare a person for employment, makes links with
employers, and supports the person in the workplace in settling in and managing tasks21.
Job coaches are currently available through the Employability programme.
However, from our advocacy work, Inclusion Ireland is aware of people with intellectual disabilities who have not been able to access
Employability supports because they are not ‘job ready’.
The recently launched Ability Programme funds projects that are aimed at
supporting young people with disabilities who are not currently job ready through the provision of a range of person-centred supports. The projects
should be evaluated to assess what has worked and what hasn’t and those projects that have demonstrated positive outcomes for people with
intellectual disabilities should be mainstreamed.
It is important that the pilot projects are not an end in themselves but translate into real jobs for persons with intellectual disabilities, with good
support when transitioning into the open labour market.
19 CSO (2017). Census 2016. 20 NDA (2019). 2017 Report on Compliance with Part 5 of the Disability Act on the
Employment of People with Disabilities in the Public Sector 21 Government of Ireland (2015). Comprehensive Employment Strategy for People with
Disabilities 2015-2024
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Inclusion Ireland asks:
Fully implement the Comprehensive Employment Strategy for
persons with disabilities Ensure people with disabilities are given the right supports to enter
and maintain employment, and that successful supported employment programmes are rolled out nationally
Ensure that workforce planning and recruitment works towards a target whereby 6% of its whole time equivalent workforce across all
employment grades will be people with disabilities Departments Responsible:
The Department of Justice and Equality
For further information, contact;
Robert Murtagh, Advocacy (Policy) Coordinator, Inclusion Ireland.
01 855 98 91 / [email protected]
Quotes from people with lived experience
“People need a Cost of Disability payment, because DA just isn’t
enough”
People with disabilities should be supported in employment and get
equal pay. They shouldn’t be discriminated against”
“People should be supported to go to college”
“Everyone has a right to an equal education”
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Inclusion Ireland receives support from the Scheme to Support National
Organisations (SSNO) for this work. The SSNO is government funding
administered by Pobal