Mairead McGuinness Fine Gael MEP

 Thursday 17^th September 2009.               Independent living, the right to a Personal Assistant service and implementation of accessibility legislation were key demands of the participants in the Freedom Drive disability campaign taking place in Strasbourg this week.

 Welcoming the group to the European Parliament, Mairead McGuinness said that despite talk of independent living, there are 1.2 million people with disabilities living in long-stay residential institutions in the EU and this may be an underestimation.

 ”Article 19, of the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities sets out the right of people with disabilities to “live in the community, with choices equal to others” and requires the States to enable people with disabilities to be included and participate in society.

 ”The Freedom Drivers who came to the Parliament spoke of their disappointment and concern about lack of progress in meeting their basic human rights.”

 Mairead Mc Guinness, an active member of the EU Disability Forum yesterday met freedom drivers from ENIL (European Network on Independent Living), on their fourth trip to the EU.

 “On this the 20th anniversary of the founding of the ENIL, it is time for action rather than talking and while there have been undoubtedly major developments in the area of disability policy, such as The UN Convention on the Rights for People with Disabilities, a lot remains to be done,” she said.

 The Freedom Drivers called on the Parliament to ensure that Independent Living is at the forefront of disability policy. Independent Living is a philosophy and a movement of people who work for self determination, equal opportunities and self-respect. It is centered on the right of people with disabilities to choose where and how they want to live.

 De-institutionalization was a major concern of The Freedom Drivers, and they urged that the EU Community continued to assist the development of community based services and centers for Independent Living.

 John Evans, a founding member of the ENIL, spoke of the need for freedom to move between member states through a guarantee of personal assistance across the board.

 There was also a call that 5% of EU Development funding would be earmarked for the development of Independent Living programmes in developing countries.

 Mairead McGuinness said that funding, such as that for rural development, does not always take into account the disability clause.  And she expressed concern that people with disabilities are being disproportionately hit by cutbacks.  She reiterated her belief that disability should be seen as a Human Rights issue rather than a health care issue.

 The MEP went on to ask John Evans about “the good news” and the improvements that have been achieved for people with disabilities in the last 20 years.  He affirmed that the UN Convention has been a massive step forward, providing the ENIL with a legal instrument with which to apply political pressure.

 McGuinness urged the Irish Government to fully ratify the Convention it as it is essential to the independence and inclusion of people with disabilities in Ireland.