International Day of People with a Disability tomorrow – Government says people with a disability are a priority,

Inclusion Ireland says PROVE IT!

International Day of People with a Disability will be celebrated tomorrow (Thursday 3rd December). Inclusion Ireland suggests how the Irish Government can best celebrate this important day and improve the lives of more than 26,000 people with an intellectual disability in Ireland:

• Don’t hit people with a disability and their families in next week’s budget – the Disability Strategy has been eroded and people can’t take any more cuts;
• Start inspections in State funded disability services so we can ensure people with an intellectual disability are treated with dignity and respect;
• Introduce new capacity legislation so our law on how people with an intellectual disability make decisions no longer dates back to the Lunacy Act of 1871;
• Move more than 300 people with an intellectual disability who are still inappropriately living in psychiatric hospitals into community settings;

Inclusion Ireland CEO Deirdre Carroll says tokenism is no longer an option:

“People with a disability and their families have already seen their frontline services cut back and progressive government policy such as the Disability Strategy eroded. Government politicians have consistently said over past months that our most vulnerable, including people with a disability, remain a Government priority. We now say PROVE IT. Don’t cut people with a disability in next week’s budget, and stop pushing important issues like inspection of disability services onto the backburner.”

ENDS

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