Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-10-24-Speech-1-045-000"
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"en.20111024.13.1-045-000"2
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"Madam President, I would like to thank the rapporteur for his work on this report and his work on the Disability Intergroup.
However, I have a feeling in the Chamber that this is a debate about ‘us’ and ‘them’. I think if we spoke more about how disability can and will affect anybody – it is not just an issue at birth but many of us will have a disability throughout our lifetime – then we might be dealing with this in a more practical way.
There is one issue that I want to specifically address, namely, the spending of European Union funding, particularly cohesion and structural funding. In some areas, we have seen that this is used to re-establish institutions which we have worked to try to dismantle. The message must be – certainly from this Parliament – that people with disabilities should be able to live independently with the structures that they require and should not be forced into institutional living.
It would be very wrong if European Union funding went against the very principles of the UN Convention. I think that those countries that have not yet ratified that Convention should do so.
The fact that there is not enough information on the particular issue of the care of people with disabilities in institutions, which is referred to in the report, is something that absolutely needs to be addressed. I think we need to be aware that we should not allow the most vulnerable to suffer due to economic crisis, and in times of austerity, we need to make sure that they are the ones that we look after best.
My final point is as follows. This House is championing the issue of disabilities with our rapporteur. I think that we could equally do with a champion within the Commission. Commissioner, I know your minds are full of other things, such as agriculture – and I include myself in that – but this is an issue that is inclusive of all parts of society. It really needs its voice to be heard, even though we are going through very difficult economic times."@en1
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