Senator Dr.Tom Clonan: Ireland Is One Of The Worst Countries To Live With A Disability.
#ireland #irishpolitics #Irish #ireland #irishpolitics #irish Senator Tom Clonan: ”Ireland is the worst place to be a disabled citizen!” In this short video clip from a full interview with Senator Dr.Tom Clonan joins Roisin Ni Chleirigh from the Irish Political Round Up Senator Dr.Tom Clonan says ‘’ Ireland is the worst place to be a disabled citizen’’. The Irish senator states that we (Ireland) are the only country in the European Union (including the Uk) that has no legislation to give to the rights to the disabled citizens: – No rights to treatment – No rights to personal assistance – No rights to income support’s Disabled citizens experience here in Ireland is quite poor. This is for historical and culture reasons It is shameful! From the independence Irish government outsourced caring roles to the religious orders. Religious orders no longer exist. Instead of the government stepping in and providing as in other European States, providing legally mandated supports and services for disabled citizens- it has outsourced them private for-profit companies – care providers – nursing homes. These congregating settings that are for profit withal the problems with sub optimal problems in that regard (156) To a large extent the State has left the care to families to support disabled citizens. That was evident in the wording of the constitutional Referendum of 2024 that the government very carefully drafted to give ‘Constitutional Expression’ to the idea that the family is the exclusive responsibility for care supports in the community. Senator Dr.Clonan adds ‘’Thankfully the Irish people – the great Irish people rejected that wording. They knew what that meant and the Irish people want to give Irish to give social economic rights, and the government will just have to be pushed in that direction. Irish governments are quite conservative when it comes to disabled rights. They don’t want to give those rights – because they feel there will be a cost involved. Which there will! But it is not a huge cost, and it would make such a difference to the lives of disabled citizens and carers. Irish disabled citizens endure higher levels of poverty than any other groups in our society. Higher levels in isolation-loneliness- poor health outcomes. Some simples steps the government could take is to remove the means testing for disability allowance. That should be universal, a non means tested payment. That would encourage more disabled people to go into the workplace. But at the moment they are terrified of losing their medical card- housing assistance and so on. We have the lowest participation in the workplace in the OECD for disabled citizens and the European union – again this is shameful! Credit to : Irish Political Roundup