There is a great deal of hurt and anger in the country at the moment. Many disabled people and their carers feel forgotten and abandoned by the Government and the referendum. The proposed amendment only gives recognition to care within the family. The Social Democrats attempted to amend this wording to include care in the community and ensure that the State had an explicit obligation to provide that care, but the Government rejected our amendment and guillotined the legislation. Despite this, the Social Democrats have opted to support both constitutional amendments because we have ultimately been left with a choice between leaving misogynistic language in the Constitution and replacing it with language that is an improvement but should have gone much further. The new wording is better than the old and, unfortunately, that is all we have an opportunity to vote on.

I acknowledge that there are people who disagree and are hurt by our decision. I wish to tell those people that I am listening. Disabled people are rightly asking questions of the Government and the Opposition. They want to know what their rights mean to us and how we intend to vindicate those. For years, the State has failed to provide the basics for 22% of the population. This State neglect is ruining people’s lives. Is it any wonder that the proposed wording of the new amendment makes it feel like people’s rights are being further disregarded? Constitutional recognition means something. It means something for lone parents, who would be recognised as families. It means something for carers, whose work would finally be acknowledged. It would mean something for disabled people to have their rights recognised too. However, the Government refused to do that.

What will the Government do to improve the rights of disabled people in Ireland? It does not need a referendum to do that. It could act today. It could ratify the optional protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In 2018, the Government ratified the convention but for six years has refused to sign the part that means the Government can be held to account for failing to allow people to exercise their rights. It is disgraceful. Is it any wonder people do not trust the Government when it comes to disability rights? People have a right to more than platitudes and empty promises. Ratifying the optional protocol is something the Government could do now and that could be transformative.

Last week, the Taoiseach told me it is his intention to ratify the optional protocol within this Government's lifetime. It only has a maximum of 12 months to do that. When will the Government ratify the optional protocol? We need it to name the date.

I thank the Deputy and acknowledge the support she and the Social Democrats are offering in respect of the referendums and changes to our Constitution. She acknowledges and we are making the case that they will represent an important improvement on the current wording in our Constitution and will take an important step towards having a Constitution that is in line with the values and reality of modern Ireland.

On the specific question the Deputy put to me about the signing of the additional and optional protocol, the Taoiseach outlined last week the commitment that he and the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, have to the signing of this protocol during the term of this Government. That means it is important that we continue with our efforts to get ready to sign this very important protocol, which we acknowledge will be important to those with disabilities in our country and to their carers.

On where the process stands at the moment, we had originally planned to progress ratification of the optional protocol after the conclusion of our first progress review in the existing convention. I understand that was not possible because the UN's own cycle of reviews was delayed post Covid. The Government has already indicated, and I wish to do so again here today, an openness to earlier ratification. Work is continuing to get us ready for that point. In August last year, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth commissioned external legal counsel to scope out the kind of legal reform and change that are needed to allow Ireland to sign up to the optional protocol and to look at what domestic remedies and processes need to be in place to allow them to vindicate their rights when this protocol is in place. The Department of children will receive the scoping report on this very shortly and after that the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, intends to bring a memorandum to Government. I mean, by memorandum, a proposal regarding how we can move this forward, outlining the kind of changes that are needed and how we will look to secure all of this and make this change within the timeframe I have already outlined.

The simple fact of the matter is that it is within the Government's power to address the issues faced by people with disabilities. It does not need a referendum to fully staff the children's disability network teams, to provide more personal assistance hours, to replace the transport schemes that Fine Gael scrapped over a decade ago or to ratify the optional protocol. Every year, when we come in here for the budget, I go straight to the section of the budget on disability. Year after year, there is no meaningful attempt to address the disgraceful and shameful absence of the provision of the bare minimum of services for disabled people.

I am sure the Minister has heard the expression, "Show me your budget and I will tell you your priorities." It is clear that disability services are not prioritised. Ratifying the optional protocol would be a clear signal of intent for a step change in the direction of this and previous Governments on disability services.

Ireland was the last country in Europe to ratify the convention. Six years after that and four years into this term of Government, the Government has said it will do it in this term. It has 12 months left and is talking about reports and all of these things. Are we any closer? In answer to my original question, can the Minister name the date?

I make clear the commitment the Government has made to do it inside its current mandate. We are making that clear.

When?

What I will not do, in response to a sensitive and important question, is outline a date which the Government, in the process of dealing with a sensitive matter finds out it cannot deliver. We are committed to doing it. The Taoiseach, the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, and I are emphasising our aim to do that. However, as the Deputy stated, it is not just in a referendum or by changing our Constitution or even just by ratification of this protocol that we can show the values and commitment we have to making a difference in supporting those with disabilities. That is why, in budget 2024 alone, a further €205 million was made available to support those with disabilities and to support the services we know need to be in place for them. It is the reason, for example, that disability and all the health services around it have been moved into a new Government Department to give it the focus it needs and deserves and to build on work that already has been done. It is the reason the Government now has an action plan to support those with disabilities to ensure the additional funding being made available in this and other budgets translates into improved supports and services. We are committed to doing that and in addition, to reaffirm what the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, and the Taoiseach already have said, in the months ahead we are committed to moving ahead with this protocol.