Swiss National Council debates wider disability inclusion

The Swiss National Council has begun debating a popular initiative and an inclusion law aimed at reducing everyday barriers for people with disabilities, Swiss public broadcaster SRF reported. The debate will continue on Monday, and no decisions were taken on Wednesday because of time constraints.

The inclusion law is the indirect counterproposal to the initiative submitted by disability organisations. The initiative calls for stronger equality for people with disabilities in all areas of life and at every level of legislation. The Federal Council’s bill seeks to address these demands.

After criticism, the Federal Council revised its counterproposal. The National Council’s Committee for Science, Education and Culture added further provisions in line with demands from the political left and the initiative’s sponsors.

More than 30 minority proposals have been submitted by both the centre-right and the left. The committee wants to make it easier for people with disabilities to enter the mainstream labour market and strengthen their economic independence. It also proposes targeted support for training opportunities and stronger tools such as job coaching.

The committee majority further wants to increase the number of monthly assistance hours available to people requiring support in the mainstream labour market to 90. It also wants to strengthen assistance services provided by third parties.

Islam Alijaj said that people who can receive the support they need only in a residential institution cannot freely choose how they live. He called for conditions that would allow more people to find their place in society.

Katharina Prelicz-Huber of the Green Party said the counterproposal contained many advances. The minority proposals from the left would bring the inclusion law closer to the initiative, she said, although the initiative was clearer and more binding.

Laurence Fehlmann Rielle of the Social Democratic Party said people with disabilities needed not only to have rights but also to be able to exercise them. Gabriela Suter, also a Social Democrat, said it was not enough to provide information, such as at a railway station about a cancelled train. The information also had to reach people with visual impairments.

Jean Tschopp of the Social Democratic Party said progress on the freedom of choice enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was slow. Marie-France Roth Pasquier of the Centre party said the counterproposal represented significant improvements and that the committee had incorporated key everyday benefits into the bill.

The FDP wants the draft law to be amended. Regine Sauter criticised it as a wish list with major financial consequences and said it lacked a coherent concept for integrating people with disabilities into the labour market. Employers needed suitable conditions, she said.

Hans Jörg Rüegsegger of the Swiss People’s Party submitted a motion to return the bill to the government for a slimmer proposal. He said the committee’s additions would burden private employers with further regulations and claims without prior consultation.

Katja Stettler-Riem of the Swiss People’s Party questioned whether the federal government really needed to determine how inclusion should be promoted in every area of life. Each new task required administration and each new service required funding, she said.

Philipp Kutter of the Centre party, who uses a wheelchair, said anyone could become disabled. A lack of assistance could mean that affected people and their relatives were able to work less, which also carried a cost. He added that public transport had failed to achieve the goal of accessibility and that regulations were needed in some places to make progress.

The National Council will resume its debate on Monday afternoon.