Human
Rights
and
Disabilities
Ireland was one of the first states to sign the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities at UN Headquarters in New York on March 30, 2007.
“That Ireland is in the first round of nations to sign this treaty is a welcome recognition of the right of persons with disabilities to live with equality, dignity and respect,” said Seán Love, Executive Director, Amnesty International Irish Section.
“About 10 per cent of the world’s population - 650 million people - live with a disability. For too long, persons with disabilities have been marginalised and excluded and have been denied their human rights,” he said.
The Convention was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 13 December 2006 and it is the product of a unique collaboration between states, persons with disabilities and other civil society organizations, and the UN. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Optional Protocol entered into force on 3 May 2008, after the Convention received its 20th ratification, and the Optional Protocol 10 ratifications. This marked a major milestone in the effort to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms of persons with disabilities, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity
“We pay tribute to Ireland for its key role in negotiations leading to the adoption of this treaty. It is important now that Ireland ratifies this Convention without delay,” said Mr Love.
This new Convention contains detailed provisions to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights by persons with disabilities. An independent monitoring body, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, will oversee national implementation of the Convention. A further welcome feature of the Convention is that states that have ratified the Convention must designate a national independent mechanism to promote and monitor its implementation. They must also ensure that civil society, in particular persons with disabilities and their representative organizations, participate fully in the monitoring process. (Source: Notice from Amnesty International ”“ Irish Section)
The Irish State, i.e. the Government, has a duty to ensure that state policies and laws, and the actions of state officials, serve to promote the health of people with disabilities. Were somebody to have a problem and need or want support, the state is obliged to provide services in a manner compatible with human rights norms. General Comment 14 of the UN Committee that oversees the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) instructs that public health programmes and healthcare provision must address the underlying determinants of health. Specifically, the document states that:
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Availability: functioning public health and health-care facilities, goods and services, as well as programmes, have to be available in sufficient quantity within the State party.
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Accessibility: health facilities, goods and services have to be accessible to everyone without discrimination, within the jurisdiction of the State party.
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Non-discrimination: health facilities, goods and services must be accessible to all, especially the most vulnerable or marginalized sections of the population, in law and in fact, without discrimination on any of the prohibited grounds.
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Physical accessibility: health facilities, goods and services must be within safe physical reach for all sections of the population, especially vulnerable or marginalized grou ps .
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Economic accessibility (affordability): health facilities, goods and services must be affordable for all. Payment for health-care services, as well as services related to the underlying determinants of health, has to be based on the principle of equity, ensuring that these services, whether privately or publicly provided, are affordable for all, including socially disadvantaged grou ps . Equity demands that poorer households should not be disproportionately burdened with health expenses as compared to richer households.
UN
Committe
General
Comment
14
document
Although
the
above
information
sounds
quite
general,
it
does
apply
to
you
and/or
your
family.
Although,
I
will
discuss
it
more
detail
later,
the
European
Convention
on
Human
Rights
is
another
very
important
document
that
you
should
be
familiar
with
as
it
contains
articles
such
as
Article
8:
Right
to
respect
private
and
family
life
that
are
also
very
much
applicable.
You may be aware of the severe lack of services in Ireland for people with a disability. With the implementation of the Disability Act 2005 and the future implementation of the Education for People with Special Educational Needs (EPSEN) Act 2004, the government is seeking to discover what needs are required (for more information about these acts, please see links below). Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean that the needs will be satisfied as provision is resource based.
In its submission to the UN Committee on the Rights of a Child (CRC), the Irish Human Rights Commission (IHRC) laid out the following issues it saw as problematic in the current delivery:
“Moreover, the lack of special needs assistants in schools, as well as resource teachers and other necessary supports are further factors that inhibit full access to education.”
“Both in the field of education and in relation to the rights of children with disability more generally the IHRC has made a number of recommendations to Government in recent years. The EPSEN Act 2004 is a positive step forward in that it sets down a legislative framework to regulate the rights of persons with special educational needs in the education system. However, the IHRC has raised a number of deficiencies in this legislation when it is examined with reference to Ireland’s international human rights obligations, including under the CRC, and made a number of recommendations for reform.”
“The Disability Act 2005 is a second major piece of legislation that impacts upon the rights of children with disabilities.The IHRC made a number of recommendations in relation to the legislation and the following issues continue to be matters of concern:
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The Act fails to put in place a new mechanism to ensure that the basic levels of services for persons with disability will be provided.
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The definition of disability used in the Act is narrower than that contained in the Equal Status Act 2000 and does not reflect international standards.
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With reference to article 12 of the CRC, the “independent assessment officers” who are carrying out the assessment are not obliged to involve the applicant and his or her representative or advocate in the assessment process.
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While the assessment itself is made without reference to resource constraints, in determining a complaint in relation to an assessment, the complaints officer will have regard to issues of resources or practicality. No appeal will lie in relation to the content of assessment.
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In general, exclusion of court proceedings is a central aspect of the Bill and reduces justiciability of any of the determinations or decisions.
In the present report the Government states that there have been important developments regarding equality provision in legislation and provision of education and personal social services for people with disabilities. However, having been centrally engaged in assessing the extent to which this new legislation complies with Ireland’s international human rights obligations in the area of disability, the IHRC believes that there remain some significant outstanding issues across the areas of education, health, housing and social welfare provision.
For a person with Asperger Syndrome, an equitable system needs to be established with affordable resources available. To help those with Asperger Syndrome and also their families/carers, the following services need to be made available:
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Specialised Educational Interventions for the child
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Parental involvement in the areas of Education and Training
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Social Skills Training
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Speech and Language Therapy
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Psychotherapy or Behavioural/Cognitive Therapy for older children
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Sensory Integration or Occupational training. These treatments are performed by an Occupational Therapist
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Suitable Housing for independent living
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Medications for co-existing conditions such as depression, anxiety, and ADD/ADHD.
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© aspire- The Asperger Syndrome Association of Ireland. Aspire is a registered Charity - Charity Number CHY 11438. Please note: aspire does not endorse, approve or assume responsibility for any product, brand, service or company mentioned herein. None of the information contained within should be taken as medical advice.
