merrion street

I am grateful for the opportunity to address this house today and want to thank the Senators for proposing this motion.

Since Special Olympics Ireland was set up in 1978, the work it has done in promoting sport and competition for people with intellectual disabilities has been immeasurable. It has grown to the point where it currently has almost 11,000 registered athletes participating in 15 sports in 409 affiliated groups throughout the island of Ireland. These athletes are supported by their families and a team of 25,000 volunteers who give of their time to help out at sporting and fundraising events.

The philosophy of Special Olympics, which emphasises the ability rather than the disability of people with special needs, has changed the way all of us look at the people around us. Special Olympics Ireland plays a pivotal role in helping to break down the barriers that often prevent people with disabilities from participating in sport. It does a wonderful job in carrying out this task and deserves both our congratulations and sincere gratitude.

While Special Olympics is first and foremost a sports organisation for people with an intellectual disability, it provides athletes with far more than the physical benefits of sport. Special Olympics is about fun, friendships and team spirit. It is about a feeling of belonging, and ultimately improving quality of life. It changes lives. Through sport, athletes develop both physically and emotionally, they make new friends, realise their dreams, and know they can fit in – Special Olympics enables them to achieve and win not only in sport but in life too.

The health, educational and social gain which is part of the ethos of Special Olympics Ireland’s overall programme must be acknowledged and the measures taken to help keep all Special Olympics athletes healthy through a number of health initiatives, including information on medical requirements and first aid and the Health Promotion Programme which offers health screening is also to be commended.

In relation to Government funding for Special Olympics Ireland, the Irish Sports Council, which is funded by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, provides funding to Special Olympics Ireland through its programme of core grant funding for National Governing Bodies of Sport. Special Olympics Ireland received €1.2million in funding from the Council this year and I am pleased to say that, despite reductions in the Council’s overall core funding provision for sports bodies in recent years, it has made a particular effort to maintain funding for Special Olympics Ireland and have kept this year’s funding at the same level as in 2012.

Indeed, Special Olympics Ireland has been the single largest beneficiary of core grant funding from the Irish Sports Council since 2007, receiving over €14.6m between 2007 and 2013.

The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport has also provided grant funding to Special Olympics Ireland in the latest round of the Sports Capital Programme. A grant of €26,153 was allocated in 2012 for the purchase of equipment.

Furthermore, the National Aquatic Centre at the National Sports Campus in Abbotstown was developed and opened in 2003 to host the swimming events of the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games, the first time the Games were held outside of the United States.

Funding of €82,000 was also provided by the HSE in 2012 to assist Special Olympics Ireland to assist them in meeting the costs associated with the programmes they provide. This funding was provided through grant aid agreements under section 39 of the Health Act 2004 and through National Lottery grants.

Irish teams have performed very successfully at both the Summer and Winter Special Olympics World Games. This success is testament to the excellent work done by Special Olympics Ireland in training and managing the athletes and in organising their attendance at the Games.

The 2003 Games were of course very special for Ireland and left a wonderful legacy. At what was a hugely successful Games, approximately 7,000 athletes from 150 countries competed in 18 official disciplines, and three exhibition sports. 30,000 volunteer officials and support staff assisted in the running of the games.

In this 10th Anniversary year since the hosting of the Games, I am very pleased to acknowledge the excellent work that Special Olympics Ireland continues to do for people with intellectual disabilities. The Board of Special Olympics Ireland, the CEO Matt English, and everyone involved in Special Olympics Ireland deserve great credit for their wonderful work. I would particularly like to congratulate all of the Special Olympics athletes who have represented Ireland over the years. They have always been marvellous ambassadors for Ireland, representing both Ireland and Irish sport with honour and pride and they have certainly enhanced Ireland’s sporting reputation.

From a wider perspective, people with disabilities can face challenges when it comes to participating in many every day activities. Much in the way Special Olympics Ireland has played a pivotal role in breaking down the barriers that prevent people with disabilities from participating in sport, a successful response from and development of a society that values without distinction people with disabilities, depends on the willingness of every sector of Irish society to break down barriers in order to ensure a better quality of life for people with disabilities.

In this regard, the National Disability Strategy has a key role to play. The National Disability Strategy was launched in September 2004 and its implementation continues to be the focus of Government policy for the sector.

There have been many important developments to improve the lives of people with disabilities in Irish society over the past number of years, however, a specific implementation plan for the Strategy had not previously been developed. Government is now addressing this and the Programme for Government commits to the publication of a National Disability Strategy Implementation Plan. Government is committed to pursuing this agenda to achieve even greater progress in the next three years.

I established and am personally chairing the National Disability Strategy Implementation Group, which developed the Implementation Plan for progressing the Strategy and is also tasked with monitoring its implementation.

The Implementation Group comprises the Senior Officials Group on Disability, representing all relevant departments and agencies across Government. A broad representation of disability organisations and the National Disability Authority have also been appointed to the Group, as have a number of individuals with disabilities who have been appointed in their personal capacity to bring their lived experience to the Group.

To achieve further consultation with people with disabilities, the end users of the services provided, I also set up a Disability Forum under the stewardship of the National Disability Authority. The first meeting of the Disability Forum was held on the 19th of June last year and a report of the views expressed form part of the considerations of the Implementation Group in relation to actions in the Implementation Plan.

To achieve our objectives collaboration is fundamental and this approach will continue in progressing the Implementation Plan and achieving the commitments made.

The aim of the Implementation Plan is, through engaging with the disability sector and building on the traditional problem-solving and constructive approach of the community and voluntary sector, to make progress to achieve our common interests. More targeted, innovative and flexible services, designed and delivered on the basis of the evidence drawn from systematic evaluation will help ensure that available resources are used to deliver services that meet the needs of the community as efficiently and effectively as possible. Acknowledging the current economic climate and diminished resources available across Government, this Implementation Plan seeks to ensure available resources are used to best effect in ensuring people with disabilities have more choice and control in their lives and in reaching their aspirations for the future.

The Plan was agreed at the meeting of the Implementation Group on 20 July 2013 and I am pleased to say that I, with Minister Shatter, will be bringing it to Government on 23 July. The Plan will be published to relevant departments’ websites as soon as possible thereafter.

Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Bill

Another positive development for people with disabilities which the Senators may be aware of is the approval by Government last week of the publication of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Bill. It is actually due to be published today.

The purpose of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Bill is to provide a modern statutory framework that supports decision-making by adults and enables them to retain the greatest amount of autonomy possible in situations where they lack or may shortly lack capacity. The Bill proposes to change the existing law on decision-making capacity, shifting from the current all or nothing status approach to a flexible functional one, whereby capacity is assessed on an issue and time-specific basis. The adoption of a functional approach to capacity, tailor-made to an individual as provided for in section 3 of the Bill, is a key element in modernising Ireland's law on capacity. The Bill will replace the Wards of Court system for adults, which is the existing mechanism for managing the affairs of persons whose decision-making capacity is impaired. The objective is to provide support in decision-making and legal protection for persons with impaired decision-making ability, such as people with intellectual disabilities, those suffering from dementia or mental illness, and persons who have acquired brain injuries through trauma or accident. In view of the growing number of people who may need assistance at some stage in their lives with decision-making, the provisions of the Bill have the potential to be of relevance to most families in Ireland.

Value for Money and Policy Review of Disability Services

As I previously outlined, a major issue for this Government is to ensure that we get the best outcome for people with disabilities from the resources we put in. With regard to the health sector I published the Report of the Value for Money (VFM) and Policy Review on Disability Services on 20th July 2012. The objective of the Review was to assess how well current health and personal social services for people with disabilities meet their objectives and to recommend how these services should be delivered in the future. In my view, many of the most fundamental changes needed to support the full participation of people with disabilities in society will be achieved through the implementation of this Review.

From the outset, public consultation was an important feature of the Review. The Review team listened carefully to what people had to say, and also to the advice of the Expert Reference Group on Disability Policy and the thoroughly researched advice provided by the National Disability Authority. As a result, the Review recommends a significant restructuring of the Disability Services Programme through:

· migration from an approach which is predominantly organised around group-based service delivery towards a model of person-centred, individually chosen, supports; and

· implementation of a more effective method of assessing need, allocating resources and monitoring resource use.

This will represent a seismic shift in how services are funded and provided, and will ultimately result in shifting choice and control from professionals and administrators to where it rightfully belongs, with the individual with a disability, and his or her family.

As the next step in the process of translating the recommendations in the Review into concrete actions, I published the National Implementation Framework for the VFM Review in February of this year and I am currently in the process of establishing a Steering Group to monitor the implementation of the VFM Review and to report to me on progress. The HSE have also made provision in their National Service Plan for moving forward on key recommendations this year.

Conclusion

I would once again like to thank the Senators for proposing this motion and acknowledge the considerable contribution made to the lives of people with disabilities by Special Olympics Ireland. It is imperative that we all play our part to ensure the quality of life of people with disabilities is enhanced, inclusion for all becomes a reality and every individual is supported to reach their full potential. The Government is committed to working collaboratively to realise the vision of a more inclusive society for all where services and supports will meet the needs of the individual citizen.