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The Elephant Collective Campaign

Automatic inquests into all maternal deaths are now mandatory! After six years of campaigning and with the new law in place, the Elephant Collective felt it was appropriate to hold this final event at the Copper House Gallery in Dublin on Friday evening 15th November, to honour the women and all the families and to thank all the individuals, groups and communities who have worked to achieve this change.

Guest speakers – Clare Daly (MEP), Fleur van Leeuwen: Human rights with a gender perspective & Jo Murphy-Lawless or ‘Dr Jo’ as she is affectionately known, is a sociologist / activist par excellence.

people involved in the elephant collective campaign
Jo Murphy-Lawless and Margaret Cullen
elephant collective campaign
art piece for elephant collective campaign
baby elephants fimo art
Doreen Ryan, Dagmar Byrtusova, Clare Daly MEP and Margaret Cullen
Fleur van Leeuwen guest speaker at The Elephant Collective Campaign event
Clare Daly MEP
the elephant collective campaign

ILMI – Personal Assistant Service Campaign

On Tuesday 19th November, 2019 a motion will be brought before the Dáil to debate the right to personal assistance, which they see as an important step towards building political support for legislating for a right to the Personal Assistance Service ( PAS).

Currently there is no legal right to personal assistance in Ireland. Those in need of this support often find the application process problematic, as there is no standardised procedure and those in receipt of this support do not have any security regarding the continuation or extent of their service due to lack of legislative protection.

Independent Living is about disabled people having the freedom to have the same choices that everyone else has in housing, transportation, education and employment. Independent living is about choosing what aspects of social, economic and political life disabled people want to participate in. Independent living is about having control over your life, to have a family, to get a job, to participate socially and to realise your goals and dreams. For many disabled people, Independent Living can best be achieved through the Personal Assistance Service (PAS).

The Personal Assistance Service (PAS) is a tool that enables disabled people to do all the tasks that they cannot do for themselves. It provides disabled people with the freedom and flexibility they need to live their lives as they choose. A Personal Assistant (PA) is hired to assist disabled people with a range of day-to-day tasks that we cannot physically do for ourselves.

With a PAS, disabled people are in control and direct the PA to carry out tasks both inside and outside of the home, including personal care, domestic duties, assisting in day-to-day tasks such as shopping, support in the workplace or socialising. A PA does not “look after” or “care for” disabled people.

In 2017, 84 percent of those in receipt of a PA service received less than three hours a day and 42 percent of these people were in receipt of between one and five hours a week. This is only an average of 42 minutes a day, despite there being 1,440 minutes in a day and disability being a 24- hour affair. As far back as 1996, it was identified that an average need for 10 hours of PA service per person per week could only respond to essential personal care needs, not quality of life requirements and it would certainly not enable full active participation in the community.

 

Since the summer of 2018, ILMI has been developing a campaign to define, standarise, promote, invest and legislate for true Personal Assistance Services (PAS). The campaign, which is called #PASNOW, originated from consultations with ILMI members across the country. From that, ILMI worked with the Centre for Disability Law and Policy NUIG to look at how we could achieve the right to Personal Assistance in Ireland. This report was published in the Dail earlier in the summer.

ILMI have been working with Deputy Thomas Pringle with the support of deputies, Thomas P. Broughan; Maureen O’Sullivan, Catherine Connolly, Joan Collins, to bring a motion in the Dáil to debate the right to a Personal Assistance.

However, at this stage we need YOU to become an active participant in this campaign. We need to all work together to ensure our elected representatives know how important this Motion is and to participate in the debate. Most importantly we need them to understand what Personal Assistance Services really mean to us and how they can support us to ensure we finally have a right to access PAS. We need civil society groups to let politicians know that this is a human rights issue and that it has support beyond ILMI’s membership.

Damien Walshe – CEO Independent Living Movement Ireland

Further information available on Independent Living Movement Ireland Website

personal assistant service campaign

Access for Women by Joan O’Connor

The summer is over, winter is almost here again, with its long dark and sometimes lonely days. We get the text message; the Access 2000 Centre in Wexford town is open again. This centre is where women go, a place lost in a row of town houses. On the outside it looks like all the […]

Horticulture Programme Postponed

Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, the Horticulture Programme is postponed to Saturday 2nd November 2019. Apologies for any inconvenience.

First Step Programme

First Step – Free Training Programme for Woman.
Apply Now !!!

For more info please go to: First Step Programme

Experience Success 2019/2020 Training Programme

Great News!!!

We are delighted to inform you that the age limit for Experience Success 2019/2020 has been extended up to 55-year-olds.

For more info please go to: Experience Success 2019/2020

Experience Success Programme 2019/2020

For more info or to apply for this programme please go to: Experience Success

Coffee Morning – Autumn / Winter Women’s Group Programme

Project Closed for Summer Holidays

Job Advert – Adult Educators

Applications are invited from suitably qualified persons for the following positions:
Adult Educators

Fixed Term Contract (7 hours per day for 10 days) from 14th October 2019 to 20 December 2019 with ability to teach QQI Level 4 Personal and Interpersonal Development
Fixed Term Contract (7 hours per day for 10 days) from 27th January 2020 […]