Longford disabled activist calls for recognition of the right to access Personal Assistance Services in Ireland

On Tuesday 5th April 2022 Independent Living Movement Ireland (ILMI) launched its 30-day countdown to their #PASNOW Webinar.

The ILMI PAS NOW Webinar, which takes place on European Independent Living Day on May 5, is the culmination of a campaign to legislate for the right to a Personal Assistance Service (PAS) for disabled people in Ireland.  

"PAS was first introduced in Ireland in 1992 as a pilot programme," ILMI Policy Officer and PAS user James Cawley explained.

"However, 30 years later it still operates on the same basis with no legislative protection for its provision. Instead, many PAS users rely on a piecemeal service, which can be removed with no warning at the discretion of government directives.

"It's hard to put into words what that means to a PAS user," he added.

"Essentially, we are living day-to-day always expecting that call or knock on the door to say our independence has been removed. As a husband, employee, and contributing member to society that is truly terrifying."

The Personal Assistance Service (PAS) is a service that allows disabled people to live independently. What this means is that a person can be hired to act as the disabled person’s Personal Assistant (PA), which enables them to do all the tasks that they cannot do for themselves, both inside and outside of the home. They are not carers they carry out tasks at the discretion and direction of the disabled person therefore enabling the individual to live an independent life.  

In November 2019 through Deputy Thomas Pringle T.D. ILMI received cross-party support in a unanimous Dail motion affirming the right to a PAS in Ireland. Since then, ILMI have worked with Local Authorities to ensure local government support for the right to access PAS.

With almost all Local Authorities either supporting or in the process of tabling the Motion the Campaign is gaining momentum.

It is therefore fitting that on the 30th Anniversary of PAS in Ireland, ILMI are hosting a PAS NOW Webinar to highlight the vital importance of PAS to disabled people across the country.

Through the Webinar ILMI will explain how Ireland could realise Article 19 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (UNCRPD), by finally legislating for the right to access a PAS to live independent lives.   

ILMI stress that this campaign isn’t just relevant to disabled people. It is for all people who support an individual’s right to equality and freedom. For this to be realised ILMI need allies in this campaign and call on everyone to:    

• Attend the PAS NOW Webinar on May 5 at 1pm and see how you can support the next steps in this campaign.
• Tune into ILMI social media pages each day this month as PAS users across Ireland explain why the campaign for protection of our right to access PAS is so important (FB: Independent Living Movement Ireland. Twitter: @ILMIreland and Instagram: @ilmireland).  
• Call on your political representatives to be allies of this campaign on a cross-party basis and ask them to keep PAS on the political agenda.   

To register for the webinar please visit bit.ly/36RMvhY. For further information on the PASNOW Campaign, or any of ILMI’s policy work please contact James Cawley at jamescawley@ilmi.ie or call +353 86 774 991.