The Labour Party launched their manifesto today

The section on Disability

A fair deal for people with disabilities

Labour remains committed to an approach to disability in Ireland based on rights, equality and participation. We will continue to work to vindicate the rights of people with disabilities to education, health, housing and work and to participate in an inclusive manner in the economic, social and cultural life of the community, and will work to advance implementation of the National Disability Strategy.

Labour will protect, as a priority, those people with disabilities who are most vulnerable to cuts in public services. However, it is also essential that we get the best possible value for money for the investment we make in services with people for disabilities, and that those services meet the needs of users.

Labour’s proposed Comprehensive Expenditure Review will examine all provision for people with disabilities, with a view to determining how users can get the best services, for the public investment made. As part of this review, Labour will consider moving a proportion of public spending on disability services to a personal budgeting model, so that people with disabilities or their families have greater flexibility to make the choices that suit their needs best.

Labour is also committed to reforming the law on mental capacity, so as to ensure the greatest degree of autonomy for people with intellectual disabilities or suffering from a mental illness, and to reduce the need for expensive court proceedings.

The Green Party also launched their manifesto today

The section on disability

Disability
• Ensure the value for money process is complete; ensuring that the outcome
provides for a greater level of direct service provision to disabled people from savings in administration.
• Develop mechanisms for personal budgets and introduce direct payments. Disabled people must be enabled to have the maximum choice and control over their own service.
• Ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities.
• Initiate a review of the Disability Act 2005 and engage with disabled people, amending it to give more meaningful legal protection of their rights.
• Ensure the full implementation of national standards and inspection of residential centres and community homes for children and adults with disabilities.
• Give official recognition to Irish Sign Language.

So thoughts?  It is a good idea to have a read of both documents in total and see other sections on equality infrastructure also as people with disabilities need more than a section on disability to ensure that rights are enforced.  A discussion would be welcome on the points raised by both parties.

Fianna Fáil did not include disability in their manifesto but they did launch their health and children policy statement today.

Disability

We will continue to roll out the National Disability Strategy, including the Disability Act 2005 and the provisions of the Department of Health and Children’s Sectoral Plan under the Disability Act.

Actions

* We will continue to support the voluntary disability organisations within the context of the difficult times that we are now experiencing.
* Issues of efficiency and effectiveness will be addressed through the Value for Money and Policy review, which will be completed this year.
* Improve the quality of residential service provision through the development and implementation of standards and inspections of residential services.
* We will reduce the number of people with a disability living in inappropriate settings.

Mental Health

We will continue to promote mental health and provide appropriate support to, and interventions for, people with mental health problems.

Actions

* We will reform and reconfigure mental health services in line with the recommendations in A Vision for Change. A central pillar of Vision is moving those with mental health needs to community based support services, in line with international best practice.
* We will develop services to reduce levels of suicide and deliberate self harm in line with Reach Out – the Suicide Prevention Strategy.
* We will reduce in-patient re-admission rates to acute units per 100,000 population.

Fine Gael launch their manifesto on Tuesday.

Paul says he was busy canvassing (rather that busy with childcare responsibilities – all the twitter wits were suggesting that!) but I was curious about him being on the missing list for another reason. His tweets the last few days show that he’s trying to get people to vote for himself rather than his party and he tells us he even has his own manifesto although the Green Party banner is beside him, it’s all about Paul.

On Friday Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan, was speaking on the Finance Bill which was before the Seanad. He explained the matter of the non inclusion of measures pertaining to Civil Partnership in the bill thus

The Bill embodies the various budgetary measures but it also contains other provisions, as finance Bills necessarily do. However, it does not include all the matters which would have been contained in the original Finance Bill. Indeed, the question of civil partnership, which was agitated here during the year as well, arose on the Finance Bill because the solemnisation of civil partnerships begins from 1 April this year and it would have been desirable to have had a finance Bill clarifying the tax status of these relationships in advance of that. Work was far advanced in my Department on preparing the necessary amendments which involved 150 statutory provisions to give effect to that. However, as it happens, it will not be possible in the limited time available to us to table those amendments and while I am sure some Senators will breathe a sigh of relief that the matter will not be freshly agitated in Seanad Éireann, it seems undesirable with the status now coming into force on 1 April and that those who contract accordingly do not have clarity about their tax status.

Senator Mary M. White: We swept it through the Seanad.

Deputy Brian Lenihan: The different parties can deal with that. It was extraordinary that the Green Party, which made such an effort at pushing the question, could not find it in its heart to give the Government another week or two to arrange for that. These are matters of political consideration. They are not matters relating to the Finance Bill.

Didn’t the Green Party withdraw from government because of the shenanigans that was Cowen trying to replace 6 ministers in his cabinet 2 months before an election was due to take place and they had enough? Also after the discussions between all parties to arrange the debate on the Finance Bill Joan Burton reported that the minister said that the sections on the bill would not be ready for another month. And of course the Minister’s department had 6 months to get the legislation ready!

I’m not a defender of the Green Party but I called electioneering spoofery when I heard this from Lenihan. The Greens were not so happy either as you might imagine given that they are claiming credit for the legislation.

Dan Boyle responded in the debate

I am disappointed with one thing the Minister said in respect of the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010. He intimated that if the Green Party had given this Government another two to three weeks of artificial life, the measures in respect of that Act would have been brought into the Bill. I understand that at the meeting of all party spokespersons a few days ago, it was commonly accepted that the 150 amendments relating to the Act can be introduced in the finance (No.2) Bill, which can be passed before 1 April. I would like to see every political party commit to that. I welcome the fact that the Minister said he was surprised at the Green Party being seen in this position as the Green Party had pushed most strongly for the civil partnership legislation. This is something I did not hear from the relevant Minister at the time when he was finishing the debate on the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010.

Later the deputy leader of the Green Party, Mary White, issued a statement also rejecting the ministers assertions and had a dig at Dermot Ahern while she was at it.

“For Minister Lenihan to imply that it is our fault that the taxation provisions on civil partnership will have to be brought in after the election is a complete mischaracterisation of the situation,” she added.

“Minister Lenihan knows that as soon as the Green Party entered government, we immediately began engagement with the Department of Justice, of which he was then Minister, to progress the issue of Civil Partnership.

“We have always felt that the bill could have been progressed much more quickly, but that there was a reluctance in the Department of Justice, particularly after Minister Lenihan left, to prioritise the legislation,”

There you go gays, do you feel special? Not sure if the queers will be held up as a rowing matter again in the election campaign but it will be 4 weeks long so you never know.

The Green Party by the way have sent copy of their advertisement for the civil partnership edition of GCN as further proof of their committment.

More anon on the various election manifestos pertaining to equality as they are launched.

Following their departure from government this afternoon the Green Party have released an infographic detailing their time in government in the past three years.

The Party listed the following as their top ten

• Helped create 20,000 new green jobs: through initiatives such as National Insulation Scheme and support for renewable energy projects
• Introduced Civil Partnerships: providing legal protection for same-sex couples
• Brought in the Planning Bill: to end reckless development and speculative property bubbles
• Made Ireland more energy efficient: through retrofitting and incentives to switch to greener cars
• Protected education: reversing budget cuts, maintaining pupil:teacher ratios and blocking the introduction of third level fees
• Introduced the Cycle to Work scheme and guaranteed funding for Metro North
• Facilitated the doubling of electricity generated from wind power
• Guaranteed an unprecedented huge investment in water infrastructure
• Ensured the roll out of the cervical cancer vaccine
• Protected spending on Overseas Development Aid and the arts sector

A few people lost their jobs today as a result of the decision to withdraw, I don’t mean the TD’s, but the people working as advisors and ministerial office staff.  Not an easy time to be job hunting at the moment so spare a thought for them. Party staff will also be facing an uncertain future as funding is dependent on the numbers elected.

Basil up there reminds me of the competition organised under the Green Party tenure to shoot the grey squirrels.

Meanwhile Senator Dan Boyle on Facebook (no instruction to tweet?)

Yes there are serious issues afoot. Yes we are unhappy about what’s going on. But we’ve half disengaged from government. There will be an election in weeks. Until then we expect others to sort our their situation.

Half disengaged from government. Ah sure that’s ok then. Isn’t it? I can smell the Dettol and Domestos from here.

Who says our Civil Service is devoid of a sense of humour?

There is a market opportunity for Deputy O’Rourke here – if I were here I’d be protecting image and rights and the like!

“Studies for support groups such as Age Action Ireland show that pensioners are very vulnerable to falling into poverty,” she said. “We also know that people who now depend upon pensions are of a generation which made many sacrifices for their families and the country.”

“I know that many hard-pressed families are also fretful about the prospect of cuts in pensions for their elderly relatives,” she added.

So I’m looking forward to similar statements protecting the rights of children, women and people with disabilities? The game of not playing one group off against the others has many players. However some have more supporters (aka voting intentions) than others.

Today Green Party appointed Senator Mark Dearey joined some of his kin in the SME sector calling for new employees to be able to negotiate their salaries below the minimum wage for the period of a year.

I call for a debate on the national minimum wage. I do not refer to the amount per se but to the fact that it is acting as a barrier to employment creation for a cohort of those seeking jobs.

The last increase in the minimum wage was on 1 July 2007 when it went from €8.30 to €8.65, a 35 cent increase. While that may not seem much, for every 100 hours of employment an employer provides, it is a €35 increase, and many small employers are providing 200 to 300 hours a week. One can do the sums to round that up to approximately €5,000 per year which this 35 cent will cost an average retailer, small business, pub or otherwise.

It is a competitiveness issue but it is also a case where employers are deciding not to employ and to run their businesses on the basis of providing a minimal service level to customers because they simply cannot afford to provide a full service. If employers were free to negotiate with prospective employees around rates below the national minimum wage, it could bring a very large number of new people into the workforce.

Obviously, in these negotiations such people would need to be protected by employment regulation orders and registered employment agreements if it is within a sector that is recognised by the sectoral agreements currently in place. With some consideration and sufficient protection given to those seeking employment, an arrangement could be entered into whereby, for a limited period of perhaps a year, people could be brought into the workforce at a rate below the national minimum wage, obviously with a view to their being on the minimum wage of €8.65 an hour within a given period. This would remove a significant barrier, act as an employment generator and give a huge boost to competitiveness for many employers who currently provide a sub-optimal level of service to their customers.

I wonder how many people would do Mark Dearey’s job for an initial period of a year for less than his salary, if the cap fits Senator?

Yesterday The Poor Can’t Pay launched two video’s concerning the effects of cuts on the low paid, older people and people with disabilities.

In Mark Dearey’s world it seems that the poor will not only pay they will be expected to undercut each other.