International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

“I will call on the Government to ratify the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (ICRPD)”

We need Government policies for people with disabilities based on ICRPD standards and the implementation of changes to service delivery and monitoring arrangements for people with disabilities. The Permanent Representative of Ireland to the United Nations articulated commitment to the ratification of the ICRPD in a Voluntary Pledge Letter dated 13 April 2012 (UN Doc A/67/80).

“We are committed to ratification [of ICRPD] as soon as possible.”

Despite this the ICRPD has not yet been ratified.

I will call on the government to ensure community readiness for people with intellectual disability moving to and living in the community.

Community readiness requires the removal of environmental, social, cultural and physical barriers that exclude people with ID from being full and inclusive members of society.

Moving people with ID from large institutional settings to community based settings is a central tenet of recent housing policies in Ireland; HSE (2011) Congregated Settings report and the National Housing Strategy for People with Disabilities (2011).

To meet anticipated increased demand for mainstream health services and to ensure preparedness in engaging with and addressing health needs of people with ID the training of mainstream/community health professionals must be prioritised. Specialist health teams, as outlined in the Primary Care Strategy must be put in place to support people with intellectual disability and other disabilities to manage their health and age well in the community. In particular, the role of the RNID within the community health setting should be explored.

People with disabilities and people with intellectual disabilities (IDs) should be named specifically in all strategy and policy documents. Exclusion from policy will likely lead to the exclusion of people with disabilities and people with ID, from policy implementation.

People with Down Syndrome and other IDs are living longer than before. In the 1930s average life expectancy of Down Syndrome was 9, at the time of writing individuals are living to their 50s, 60s and 70s. Unfortunately some can develop serious medical conditions such as dementia much earlier and in higher proportions than the general population.

Sustainability of and successful ageing in a community setting, requires action to reduce barriers to participation that persist for people with ID and to ensure the required services and supports are in place.

There is a real need to foster inter and intra-departmental links, for example between older people services and disability services to address the ongoing issue of who has responsibility for people who age with a disability.

“I will call on the Government to invest in the development rehabilitation services and for the implementation the National Neuro-Rehabilitation Strategy”

Twenty-five thousand people with neurological conditions need rehabilitation services  every year. The National Policy and Strategy for the Provision of Neuro-Rehabilitation Services in Ireland (2011-2015) has not been implemented.
The key priorities for the development of neuro-rehabilitation services are:

1. Development of four regional inpatient units nationwide to provide specialist neurorehabilitation services 2. Establish nine community neurorehabilitation teams, one in each of the Community Healthcare Organisations, nationwide by the end of 2016 3. Invest in long term rehabilitation specific services in the community to provide lifelong support in community settings

To date, there has been no new investment to implement the Neurorehabilitation Strategy.  I will call for investment to address this crucial gap in Ireland’s health services whereby hundreds of people cannot receive the support they need to maximise independence and achieve their potential and are left with unnecessary lifelong disability.

“I will table a motion to call on the Government to amend Articles 41.2.1 and 41.2.2 to replace gender specific language with gender neutral language and incorporate a broader definition of the caring role to include men, to include dependents other than children and to include care outside the home”

The gender specificity of the current wording is at odds with the principles of equality.

Article 41.2 discriminates on gender grounds by assigning women a specific role and ignoring the possibility that men could have any parental or caring responsibility,

Schools Equality Bill

“I will table a motion to call on the Government to introduce legislation that will respect equally the rights of all children, parents and teachers from all religions and none.

This Schools Equality Bill will specifically address:

• Patronage to ensure that children have a right to attend inclusive public schools
• Access to ensure that children have an equal right to attend their local public school
• Curriculum to ensure that children have an objective pluralist education
• Teaching to ensure that children have a right to the best teachers selected on merit

State funding of schools based on a particular majority in any given area results in segregation, discrimination and denial of basic human rights. The provision of local schools for people of all religions and non-religions is financially and legally untenable. In contrast running state schools on a secular basis vindicates the rights of all parents to freedom of conscience, religion and beliefs.

Education and Equality

It is a fundamental human right to be educated without being indoctrinated with or converted to any religion. The Irish State through its ratification of the European Convention on Human Rights and other UN Conventions has agreed to respect the religious and philosophical convictions of all parents within the Irish education system. However Irish schools can legally discriminate against children and teachers on religious grounds. The UN and the Council of Europe have warned that our schools breach human rights.

State funded schools should have an inclusive public ethos, to respect everyone equally under Articles 42.1 and 42.3.1 of the Constitution. Moral education should be separate from religion as per Article 42.3.2. The State should not cede control of education to private patrons.

The Republic of Ireland has approximately 3,300 primary schools. The Irish State ‘provides for’ education and almost all of our national schools are publicly funded. Our National schools are directly financed by the State, but administered jointly by the State, a patron body, and local representatives. This patronage system means that, in essence, our national schools are private with over 90% of them run by the Catholic Church.

In addition, under their ‘Catholic First’ admissions policy many of our national schools classify non-Catholic children as Category 2’. This means that if a local national school is oversubscribed a child from the school’s catchment area can be turned away solely on the grounds of whether they have been baptised or not. If elected to the 25^th Seanad I will table a motion for the Government to introduce legislation, and if necessary to call a referendum, to address issues of patronage, access, curriculum and teachers.

Schools Equality Bill (Background)

Patronage: Children have a right to attend inclusive public schools

State-funded schools should have an inclusive public ethos, to respect everyone equally under Articles 42.1 and 42.3.1 of the Constitution. Moral education should be separate from religion, as per Article 42.3.2. The State should not cede control of education to private patrons. Private ethos schools should be an optional extra, not the basis of the system. The Education Act needs to be amended to do this. Reform could start in the nine schools where the Minister for Education is the patron.

Access: Children have an equal right to attend their local public school

Children should have equal access to their local State-funded school, whatever their religion. The current Admission to Schools Bill will outlaw some discrimination, but it reinforces discrimination against atheist and minority faith families, calling it ‘lawful oversubscription criteria.’ Section 7.3(c) of the Equal Status Act needs to be deleted to prevent all religious discrimination. If oversubscribed, priority should be given to children with siblings in the school, then to local children, then use a lottery.

Curriculum: Children have a right to an objective pluralist education

Children should be taught the State curriculum, including teaching about religions and beliefs, in an objective, critical and pluralistic manner, as per the European Convention on Human Rights. Faith formation should be outside the school day. Section 15.2(b) of the Education Act, and the curriculum need to be amended. Rule 68 of National Schools, that religious instruction is by far the most important subject and a religious spirit must inform and vivify the whole work of the school must be removed.

Teaching: Teachers have an equal right to work in state-funded schools

Children should be taught by the best teachers, and teachers should have equal access, based on merit, to jobs in State-funded schools. Section 37 of the Employment Equality Act allows schools to discriminate against teachers on the ground of religion. The current Section 37 Amendment Bill will protect Catholic LGBT teachers, but reinforces discrimination against atheist and minority faith teachers. Section 37 needs to be amended to prevent all religious discrimination against teachers

There are currently 57, 679 Trinity Graduates from 85 countries on the Seanad Electoral Register for the University of Dublin, Trinity College. The most recent register published in June 2015 contains thousands of doubtful addresses.

The Seanad General Election has now been called and a ballot paper will be issued to every address on the register on 21 March and the poll will close on April 26th

In addition, at the expense of the taxpayer, each candidate is entitled to post an election leaflet to every address on the register, including the addresses already marked as doubtful. In 2011 there were 20 candidates in the three seat constituency, if a similar number of candidates declare in 2016 its not difficult to see how the cost to the taxpayer could run into hundreds of thousands of euro.

In the longer term the entire system needs revision, the use of PPS numbers and an electronic, rather than a postal, vote seem like much more cost-effective and efficient options.

In the short-term, as taxpayers and Trinity graduates we can watch from the sideline as money is wasted or we can take action and save the taxpayer money by updating our own details online.

https://www.tcd.ie/academicregistry/seanad/seanad-form.php

In a letter published in the Irish Times Fr Gregory O’Brien PP (28/1/16)  blames homelessness, suicide and increasing violence in Ireland on society’s move away from a Christian vision based on dignity and the inviolability of the individual towards a Secular vision.  He says this Secular vision is based on an individual’s unbridled freedom to do what they please.

In the interests of moving away from blame and segregation and towards solutions and inclusion, I would like to articulate the Secularist vision for society.

Secularism, is not as Fr O’Brien suggests, about moving away from religion it is concerned, instead, with religious neutrality.

Secularists want the state to be neutral on matters of religion, endorsing neither one religion or another.  Secularists want separation of church and state. In an Irish context Secularists believe that our Constitution should not contain any religious references. In addition, Secularists believe that the state should not fund religious schools or atheist schools for that matter. Instead Secularists  believe that the state should simply fund schools that respect equally the rights of all children, parents and teachers from all religions and none.

Secularists also believe that the law should apply to everyone equally. Secularists believe that the law should be neutral and that there should be not be one law for religious and another for everyone else. In the Irish context Secularists believe that the Employment Equality Act should apply to all employers without caveat.

Secularists value freedom of thought and expression and believe that everyone should be free to express their religious beliefs and by extension that atheists and Secular humanists should also have freedom of expression to include the right to express their views, organise themselves, and publicly argue against religion if they wish. In the Irish context Secularists believe that Irish Blasphemy laws should be repealed.

The Secular vision is not at odds with the Christian vision, in fact, it can and has been argued that Jesus was a Secularist. The Secularist vision is not, as Fr O’Brien states, about a wanton desire to do as one pleases but rather a desire to ensure that everyone has the same rights and freedoms.

At present in Ireland the religious hold a special status and that status is reflected in our Constitution and in our laws. Secularists believe that the religious should be afforded the same rights as everyone else, but no more than that. Secularists believe that all humans are born equal and ask only that our laws and our Constitution reflect this.

A Secular vision, like a Christian vision is based on dignity and the inviolability of every human being. A Secular vision is also based on respect and has a more equal and inclusive Ireland in its sights.

With respect, I suggest that Fr O’Brien misunderstands the Secularist’s vision and in so doing mis-attributes blame for the societal ills of homelessness, suicide and violence.

I believe that both Secularists and Christians would like to minimise human suffering. Instead of attributing blame might I be so bold as to suggest that we divert our energies away from blame and together work towards addressing the educational, health and socio-economic inequalities that contribute to homelessness, suicide and violence.

The time has come to stop dividing society into ‘us and them’. It is now time to drop the ‘them’ and recognise that there is only ‘us’. Segregating society into groups on the grounds of belief, or indeed on any of the nine grounds, is counterproductive.

We can continue playing the blame game or we can begin a journey together towards solution.

If we start from the fundamental position that we are all human, that we are all equal, I believe that together we can make a difference.

Yours Sincerely

Sabina Brennan (PhD)

I submitted the letter above to the Irish Times but they chose not to publish it.

www.facebook.com/BrennanSabina

Fr O’Brien’s Letter

Sir, – In your editorial comment of January 26th (“In the shadow of the dome”), you congratulate Catholic legislators for putting aside their Catholic faith in legislating on social issues and so creating a pluralist and more diverse society.

You neglect to mention other social issues that co-exist with these mainly middle-class social issues in which you take such pride when Catholic legislators abandon their faith commitment. The widening gap between rich and poor in Ireland, the growing number of homeless people and indeed families, the number of suicides, the increasing violence on our streets, etc. If we are going to speak about society, we must not neglect the parts that do not suit our middle-class notions of plurality.

The Christian vision of society based on the principal of the dignity and inviolability of every human being has proved itself over two millennia.

The secular vision of society based on the individual’s unbridled freedom to do what one pleases if one has the money and the wherewithal is a disastrously limited vision of what human life is about but one on which you congratulate our legislators and hope more will follow. I cannot agree. – Yours, etc,

Fr GREGORY O’BRIEN, PP

Templeogue,

Dublin 6W

.http://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/legislators-and-faith-1.2512601

The National Women’s Council of Ireland launched their ‘Breakthrough Manifesto today.