THE SOCIAL DEMOCRATS have today launched their disability policy, setting out their priorities ahead of the upcoming election. 

Top of the party’s list is the creation of a Department of Disability, something party leader Holly Cairns has said is a red line issue for any potential coalition talks after the election. 

Speaking at the launch today in Dublin, Cairns said the State needs to move to a rights based approach when it comes to disability, placing people with disabilities and Disabled Persons’ Organisations at the centre of decision making. 

Cairns said that before she became a politician she spent some years working in disability services in Malta. 

“To come back to Ireland and realise the difference in the provision of services, and how out of reach those services feel to disabled people here and to their families, is something that I find, one remarkable and two, just completely disgraceful,” Cairns said. 

On the proposal to establish a senior ministry with sole responsibility for disability, Cairns said this is a “deal breaker” for the party.

“Having the weight of a senior ministry, it won’t solve all of the issues in the sector, but it needs that focus and that attention to be able to actually change people’s lives.

“And so we’re saying, when we go into program for government talks, that is going to be a deal breaker for us. It’s an absolutely essential element for the Social Democrats for future government,” Cairns said. 

Fine Gael are also pushing for the creation of a different type of new department – a Department of Infrastructure to oversee State infrastructure projects.

Cairns said today that the Social Democrats do not believe a department of this type is needed, arguing that this is what the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is for.