As the General Election campaign gains momentum, the National Disability Services Association (NDSA) will host a critical hustings event at the Irish Wheelchair Association’s headquarters in Clontarf, Dublin on Thursday, November 21st, at 11:30 a.m.

This event will gather election candidates to outline their party’s commitments to people with disabilities and the organisations that serve them, providing a platform for NDSA’s seven member organisations and their stakeholders to engage candidates on the issues that matter most. 

In attendance will be service users, staff, and members of Cheshire Ireland, Chime, Central Remedial Clinic, Enable Ireland, Irish Wheelchair Association, Rehab, and Vision Ireland. This diverse group will present the urgent issues facing people with disabilities and the organisations delivering essential services on behalf of the State.  

With polling day approaching, this event will offer voters, especially those impacted by disability, an opportunity to evaluate each party’s priorities and commitments to disability rights and sector reform in the next Programme for Government. 

The NDSA is advocating for a government commitment to meaningful reform, with a call for prioritisation of disability rights and funding equity within the next Programme for Government. 

The NDSA is also demanding that the next Programme for Government address the long-standing issue of Reform of the Disability Sector to enable Section 39 organisations to be adequately and sustainably funded to ensure continuity of their vital service delivery to people with disabilities on behalf of the State and the HSE. 

Each of the NDSA organisations highlighted in their Pre-Budget Submissions, the mismatch between Government strategy and the level of funding available for implementation and achieving the targets of the Strategies. We are looking for a commitment that the forthcoming National Disability Strategy and Action Plan for Disability Services, will be fully resourced and that a proper oversight mechanism will be put in place. 

Finally, we remain concerned about the high number of our members and service users who are unable to find employment and call for an urgent targeted employment strategy to address the persistently low employment rate for people with disabilities in Ireland, which at 32% remains the lowest in the EU, significantly lagging the EU average of 51%.  

Joan Carthy, Advocacy Manager with Irish Wheelchair Association, said. “We want to put disability front and centre stage in this general election campaign. We believe that people with disabilities and the disability sector have been abandoned by successive governments and that needs to change. If candidates want the vote from people with disabilities, they need to commit to this change.” 

She added: “Everyone should be able to live a life of choice and equality. There is an ongoing crisis in the disability sector which is fundamentally one of funding.” 

She cautioned that, without immediate action, “voluntary organisations may struggle to meet their service commitments to the HSE, jeopardising the essential support they provide to people with disabilities.”