Who cares?
I do. I care a lot. I care 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and I’ve been doing that for the past 12 years. And tomorrow, I am being asked to vote in a constitutional referendum where it would seem our government doesn’t care at all.
As a campaigner for the rights of people with disabilities, I waited for the wording of this referendum to be released so I could get my fighting pants on and get canvassing.
I started hearing through the grapevine that what was being proposed was problematic, that the recommendations of the Citizens Assembly were being watered down. That disability groups were not going to be happy.
I have followed the ensuing debate carefully. For me, there is no question that the definition of the family needs to be updated and the duty of care should not fall solely on the mother. But the provision of support for people with disabilities? Well, it seems no-one thought to ask us.
Every carer I know is broken from the fight. We fight for basic access to health care, disability services and education. And now the proposed new wording says the government will “strive to support such provision”.
For the people with disabilities, it absolves the state from providing them with care, making them even more reliant on family and the various charities that have traditionally taken up the mantle of providing services.
I had the opportunity to speak with some of our elected officials on this over the past few days and the best I could get from any of them is that they are voting a reluctant Yes/Yes because a No vote for carers would mean a tabling of the issue and no-one will touch this one again for a long time.
So, its a rock and a hard place. Vote Yes to a poorly thought out unknown or Vote No to maintain the desperate status quo.
Whatever your feelings on the matter, please do use your right to vote this Friday and if you’re not happy with the result – get writing. Get petitioning. And remember this when the knocks start coming on the doors for the upcoming local and general elections.
