1. December 3rd celebrates the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, on the eve of the 50th. anniversary of the April Revolution which, for the first time in the history of Portugal, recognised persons with disabilities as holders of economic, social, cultural and political rights enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic and in the important body of legislation that gave concrete content to these rights and special responsibility to the State to enforce them.
There is a growing awareness in society about discrimination based on disability, to which the continued and persevering action of organisations of persons with disabilities has contributed in presenting claims that aim to respond to the specific needs of each disability (motor, sensory, intellectual and organic) but also regarding those that constitute common denominators for the fulfilment of the rights of all persons with disabilities.
The PCP, valuing the important advances that have taken place, to which it never stopped making its particular contribution, stresses the great distance that separates the guiding principles of national and international legislation ratified by Portugal, such as the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the economic and social reality of the vast majority of people with disabilities – children, young people, adults and the elderly.
These persons find themselves in a situation of particular economic and social vulnerability, in a spiral of inequalities and discrimination, reflected in social isolation, increased difficulties in accessing important public services and social functions of the State – education, culture, sport, healthcare, mobility and public transport, without forgetting the need to create a network of equipment and services that responds to their specific needs.
The majority of persons with disabilities is not employed. There is no economic and social autonomy for persons with disabilities without valuing the right to professional training and work, nor an autonomous and independent life without ensuring the role of Social Security in improving the benefits and social support owed to them.
This reality is not a historical or cultural fatality. It is the result of right-wing policy that has favoured the scandalous growth of private profits and the transfer of enormous public resources (in terms of the State Budget, the RRP and others) for purposes unrelated to the fulfilment of the rights of persons with disabilities, to the detriment of social justice, development and progress in the country.
2. Mere words are not enough; measures and solutions are needed. The recent debate on the State Budget for 2024 is an example of this.
Proposals tabled by the PCP, which aimed to respond to problems that affect different sectors of persons with disabilities were rejected, out of which we highlight only four examples:
Make access to the Multipurpose Certificate faster, reduce bureaucracy in procedures to considerably reduce delays in convening Medical Boards, a necessary condition to access a set of rights such as access to Social Inclusion Payment and tax benefits.
The PCP's proposal provided for free medical certification for Multipurpose Certificates; It would no longer be necessary to obtain this document in situations where there is a document already issued by a reputable public entity; automatic renewal for persons whose degree of disability cannot be changed; and the extension of the deadlines for Multipurpose Certificates whose validity expired between 2019 and 2023 and those that expire in 2024.
The increase of the Social Inclusion Payment with a monthly increase of 70 euros in its base component, increasing its value from 298.40 euros to 368.40 euros; the extension of the criteria for accumulating the Social Inclusion Payment with income from work to workers whose wage is equal to or lower than the National Minimum Wage; the grant to those who acquire a disability or incapacity after the age of 55, when it is proven that it does not result from common degenerative processes or those associated with normal aging, and the payment of this social benefit over 14 months.
The bettering of the old-age disability pension age anticipation scheme, not limiting access only to those with a degree of disability equal to or greater than 80%.
The increase in funds to be allocated to support products for persons with disabilities, with the amounts allocated being duly identified and set down in the State Budget.
When the time came to decide on the financial means to implement these objectives in the SB, they were rejected.
3. The PCP salutes organisations defending the rights of persons with disabilities in their daily struggle to achieve the objectives of this date, as well as bodies that, in the social sector, intervene every day to ensure that the equipment and services they manage provide the necessary support to persons with disabilities.
The problems of persons with disabilities are not answered in the State Budget nor can they be left to wait.
The upcoming elections are an opportunity to change policy, to go from words to actions, to enforce the law in the lives of persons with disabilities and their families.
For this change, you can count on the PCP, as proved in a vast set of proposals that affirm its alternative policy in defence of persons with disabilities, of the workers, the people and the country.
