Attorney General Publishes Advice and -Inclusion Ireland Response to denial of disability payments

on Tuesday 07th February 2023 Derval McDonagh appeared on Prime Time in response to the advice of the Attorney General that The Department of Health published on the same day.

“While the state,  according to the Attorney General, has no legal obligation to compensate individuals, it is the view of Inclusion Ireland that there is a moral obligation to pay people.

The individuals in question, living in state funded residences from 1983 to 1996 have a right to accessible and clear information about these matters which concern them.

The Attorney General’s comments that the state has to make difficult decisions every day given the limited resources available to it. We would argue that there is an unjust patter  we observe  for individuals who may be non speaking/ non verbal or who potentially need advocacy and significant support to understand their rights.

Article 21 of the UNCRPD is clear on the right to information for disabled people. We are in serious breach of this part of the convention.

Whilst the state had no legal obligation to put a compensation scheme in place, there is a moral imperative to ensure that people ( and their families/advocates where needed) have a full understanding of their rights and what avenues are available to them should they choose to pursue the issue.

You will find the publication here https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/f555a-government-publishes-ag-report-on-nursing-home-charges-and-disabled-persons-maintenance-allowance/

More information below

Friday 03 February

All of our work at Inclusion Ireland is underpinned by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. This week we learned through Prime Time Investigates  that historically up to 12,000 people were denied their human rights by disability payments being withheld.

Our CEO Derval McDonagh says: “We have heard the government commit that they will do what is “morally right and legally just” in relation to this issue. One person being denied their rights is one too many. People impacted by the denial of payments may not even be aware of the issue because their right to accessible information in a format they can understand has also been denied. At Inclusion Ireland, we will create some accessible information around this issue and make it available widely.  We will also observe the action following the promises of An Taoiseach. We as a society need to acknowledge that everyone has a right to information about issues that impact their life, regardless of whether they are viewed as “vulnerable” by the state or not.  Their perceived “vulnerability” is often because of barriers, we, as a society, have created. We call for the right to information under article 21- Freedom of Expression and Opinion and Access to information of UNCRPD  to be front and central in these discussions.”

You can see the first programme which aired on Tuesday 31st January on the RTE Player at this link  https://www.rte.ie/player/series/prime-time/SI0000000825?epguid=IH10000976-23-0009

You can see the follow up programme from Thursday 02 February at https://www.rte.ie/player/series/prime-time/SI0000000825?epguid=IH10000976-23-0009

We will update this information when we have accessible information created.

PDF Download All News

• Share: