Thomas Pringle to introduce Dáil Motion on the Right to Personal Assistance Services

By Thomas Pringle
Updated: 15th November 2019

I and my colleagues in the Independents4Change Dáil group will be introducing a motion in the Dáil on Tuesday Nov 19 calling on the Dáil to legislation to establish a Commissioner for Independent Living that will be tasked with making sure there is a Right to a Personal Assistance Service in this country.

Currently there is no right, and for disabled people this means living a limited life with unfilled potential. A personal assistant is someone who provides enough assistance to a disabled person so that the disabled person can live a full and active life in the areas of education, work or even their social life.

But right now in Ireland only 2,000 or so people have access to this service with only on average 42 minutes a day despite disability being a 24/hour affair.

My motion if passed, would ensure that everyone who needs it has a right to personal assistance, and will make sure that funding for the Personal Assistance service in Ireland is properly ring-fenced and separated from the different Home Help service which meets the needs of elderly people, not disabled people.

It would also clarify what a personal assistance service is so that the HSE can no longer misalign Home Help to disabled people who in reality need a PA, and will force our health service to address the inconsistencies in how personal assistance is currently being administered across the country.

I also believe my motion would seek to tackle rural disability where disabled people face additional barriers to accessing education, transport or work.

But ultimately the motion compels the Government to turn its own perspective of disability on its head, end cuts to disability supports, properly fund a personal assistance service in Ireland and dismantle the barriers it has created which is the real cause of disability, not disability itself.