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Tom Clonan

Tom Clonan

Member of the Seanad Éireann

May 26, 2026

5:46
So I'm asking the question, why have we failed and continue to fail disabled people in Ireland?
5:54
Well, I think first and foremost, just to get back to first principles, to get back to the, the very basics, we have no legislation in Ireland to give socioeconomic rightsTo disabled citizens.
6:08
So every other country within the European Union, including England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, have primary legislation that gives disabled citizens a legal right to social supports like personal assistance, housing, and so on, independent accessible living, and the medical interventions, the therapies and surgeries and supports that, that you would need.
6:32
So we don't have that here.
6:34
So as a community, carers and disabled citizens have no rights in law.
6:39
Now, there is a slight change to that, I suppose, with the full ratification of the UNCRPD, which the government signed up to in October of 2024.
6:48
But it places that optional protocol commitment though places a burden on carers and families to take a case, to go to law to try and vindicate the rights of their disabled child, whether they be an adult or otherwise.
10:32
Unwilling.
8:52
Is that what's ultimately going to bring this conflict to a close? Somebody's going to run out of stuff.
8:59
No, I don't think so.
9:01
I mean, I do agree with you that, you know, logistics are...
9:05
in blunt terms, what determines the outcome of a conflict.
9:08
Basically, the person with the most stuff in the right place at the right time, as you say, wins.
9:13
But this is an entirely different scenario in that it's an air intervention.
9:20
And it has gone through, it's entering its second phase now.
11:16
And if the Americans are successful in their aim to destroy the munitions that Iran currently has, does Iran have any capacity to replace them?

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