The Irish Government has published an important document. They talk on how to improve the economic situation in Ireland. They also talk on how to improve the situation of people with disabilities in Ireland.

 Ireland's two largest parties agreed to form a new coalition government on 6 March. The same day, they published on their websites a document entitled 'Towards Recovery Programme for a National Government 2011 - 2016'. Within its pages, the brand new Irish Government recognises that it is society’s most disadvantaged people who most suffer in a context of tough economic circumstances. Disabled people are twice as likely to live in poverty as other citizens and are more likely to be hit first, hardest and longest by the recession.

Both Irish parties in the coalition, the Fine Gael and the Labour Party, included some key commitments in their manifestos during the election campaign to prioritise people with disability and mental health needs. These commitments are reflected in the recovery programme and some of the most important are:

"As part of this Review we will move a proportion of public spending to a personal budget model so that people with disabilities or their families have the flexibility to make choices that suit their needs best. We will also develop and implement national standards for home support services."

"We will reform the law on mental capacity to ensure the greatest degree of autonomy for people with intellectual disabilities or suffering with mental illnesses in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities."

"We will also develop and implement national standards for home support services which are subject to inspection by the Health Information and Quality Authority."

The recovery programme also aims at ensuring a greater level of participation in employment, training and education of people with disabilities, as well as a realistic implementation plan for the National Disability Strategy. You can read the complete version here.

Following this initiative, a Minister of State for Disability, Equality and Mental Health has also been appointed. Her name is Kathleen Lynch and she was previously the Labour Party spokesperson for equality and disability issues.

Deirdre Carroll, Chief Executive Officer of Inclusion Ireland said "we can only give the Programme a hesitant welcome, as there are no timeframes given for implementation. In light of the number of commitments made to people with disabilities and their families in the past, which were not fulfilled by previous governments, Inclusion Ireland hopes the new Government will ensure it sees through these promises.”

Inclusion Europe welcomes the initiative of the Irish Government and hopes it will be able to fulfil the commitments announced in the recovery programme. A quote from Albert Einstein is included in the document and says “Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.” We hope this "tomorrow" will not mean "very long term".