A Social Report for Ireland Volume II - the NESC Website

people with disabilities 3019.9.2 Ireland’s Policy Framework for Democracy and ValuesTowards 2016 contains the vision that:People with disabilities have, to the greatest extent possible, the opportunity to live afull life ... free from discrimination.And the long-term goals that:Every person with a disability would have access to ... information, advocacy and otherpublic services ... and that Every person with a disability would be supported to enablethem, as far as possible, to lead full and independent lives, to participate in ... societyand to maximise their potential.Priority actions include the establishment of the Social Services Inspectorate (SSI) as partof HIQA and that national standards will be introduced, as discussed in section 9.8 of thischapter. There is also a commitment to the development of information and advocacyservices for people with disabilities. Under the Citizens Information Act 2007, the CitizensInformation Board has a mandate to provide advocacy for people with disabilities.The sectoral plans of the Departments of Social and Family Affairs, Health and Childrenand Communications, Energy and Natural Resources are relevant to the participation andsafety of people with disabilities. These plans contain a broad range of measures: theirimplementation, and the monitoring of progress towards the achievement of targets, willbe critical.9.9.3 Commentary on Democracy and Values for People with DisabilitiesThe ability to participate in the democracy, to have access to good information, to be safe,to be respected, to be treated with dignity and fairly, and to have your rights upheld makesan important contribution to well-being. In this context, the commitments to a personaladvocacy service and to the implementation of standards in communal establishments iswelcome. Yet, people with disabilities do not participate in society to the same extent asothers on a number of indicators. Access to ICT is an important mechanism to facilitateparticipation, along with ensuring existing barriers are removed, and that people withdisabilities are not discriminated against. The current disability legislation provides forredress but only a minority of people with disabilities are aware of it. As shown in section9.9.1 people with disabilities experience and perceive discrimination in accessing work andservices. In addressing these issues there is a need to recognise the diversity of people withdisabilities, and the possibility of double disadvantage, in relation to disability and otherequality grounds, such as gender, age, ethnicity and culture, and sexual orientation.A key concern has been identified in relation to the safety of people withdisabilities, especially those who are most vulnerable. Data are limited in thisarea but from what information does exist diverse needs and vulnerabilities havebeen identified. The need to ensure that people with disabilities are free frommaltreatment, abuse and neglect needs to be a priority, despite the economiccrisis and resource constraints. Finally, information on this domain is limitedand incomplete, and attention could be given to the collection and analysis ofinformation on the safety, in particular, of people with disabilities. The dearth ofinformation in this area supports the case for a national information strategy forpeople with disabilities.