Letters

People who give care and receive care

Result of care referendum must mark the start of a new chapter

Sat Mar 16 2024 - 00:08

Sir, – The No vote in the care referendum should be a watershed moment regarding the rights of people who give care and receive care in Ireland.

We need a new “care contract”, one where those who receive care and those who give care feel the full support of the State.

Ireland is a vastly rich country now, and yet you wouldn’t know it by the State’s approach to care.

The failures in service and support for people with disabilities are stark and have been highlighted many times by those affected.

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Of the many damning statistics which rate Ireland unfavourably compared to other countries, there is one which is perhaps particularly revealing.

The widest absolute gap between the shares for people with and without a disability living in poverty is the widest in the EU (39.3 per cent for people with a disability compared with 14.6 per cent for people with no disability in 2002, according to Eurostat).

The voices of people with a disability, and the people who give care where it is required, have never been silent, but they have too often been ignored. The result of the care referendum must mark the start of a new chapter. – Yours, etc,

PAUL DILLON,

Dublin 6W.

Sir, – Whatever way you voted, last week was both a victory and a defeat. No rights were won, but none were lost either. Progression did not happen but neither did regression. It’s a funny feeling for many; uncomfortable, uncertain, an in-between space. Perhaps that’s where we need to be, perhaps that space is where the best reflections happen.

Often seen inaccurately as polarised in positions, disabled people and carers came together to rage against a potential change to our Constitution which would do nothing to even acknowledge the rights of people to give and receive care outside of family. Railing against words like “strive”, a blow to those who must, on a daily basis, fight, beg, cajole for basic recognition of rights that most people have never even have to consider. For our members, striving doesn’t even come close to describing the daily grind of fighting a system that seems to dehumanise you at every turn. Can my child go to their local school or any school? Will my child get access to basic life-saving and life-making supports? Can I plan to move out of my family home when I am 20, 40, 60, or only when my parents die? Can I get the support I need to live my life, privately, with dignity exactly as I want to live it?

The failure to even recognise these rights in our Constitution, the national collective statement of our values, was hurtful, damaging, dismissive.

So, what next? Do we retreat separately or stay in between to learn and grow, to work in solidarity for a common purpose? I believe change is coming. I believe it will be led by disabled people and supported by carers, allies, friends. I believe the voices heard over the last few weeks cannot be silenced.

Inclusion Ireland are here, in the in-between, ready to work in solidarity with disabled people and their families, always. So, let’s turn the hollow victory onto something solid, a pathway forward toward a future where human rights are our guide and empty promises are consigned to history. Now that’s a space that feels right. – Yours, etc,

DERVAL McDONAGH,

CEO,

Inclusion Ireland,

Dublin 1.

Sir, – Almost all of us want to continue living in our own homes and communities as we age. The Statutory Home Care Scheme was slated for legislation four years ago, so why are we still waiting? Minister of State for Older People Mary Butler has been left to push through incremental progress on home care when what is needed is a concerted, cross-departmental effort to get home care fixed once and for all.

The number of those aged aged 80 and over will almost quadruple by 2051 and HSE figures show that home-care funding will need to double by 2031, a mere seven years away. Thousands more will join the 6,000 people already waiting in vain for home-care support if the Government does not “strive” a lot harder to support care for those who need and deserve it. – Yours, etc,

JOSEPH MUSGRAVE,

CEO,

Home & Community Care Ireland,

Dublin 7.