No resolution over who pays for deaf MP's funding

Mojo Mathers. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The next stop for deaf MP Mojo Mathers' bid for funding for a note-taker to allow her to participate fully in Parliament is the standing orders committee which oversees rules of the House and select committees.

A meeting of the Parliamentary Services Commission last night failed to find a resolution to the problem of which part of Parliament should pay for the service.

However Speaker Lockwood Smith, who takes advice from the commission, has pledged to continue paying for Ms Mathers' note-taker out of his own office's budget until the matter is resolved.

This morning he said there were "a number of quite complex issues that need to be worked through'' before the matter was settled, "some of those issues will involve reference to the standing orders committee''.

One of the key issues was whether funding for the service was a matter of individual member support or of wider accessibility to Parliament.

"In my opinion both issues are involved, that's why it's not quite so simple getting the final best outcome for it.''

While issues around individual member support were a matter for the Parliamentary Service and Dr Smith, those around the operation of Parliament were for the Office of the Clerk, which is guided by the Standing Orders Committee, to decide.

Dr Smith said one of the reasons the matter had not been resolved before Parliament began this year was because the Standing Orders Committee was not available to consider it until then.

Greens co-leader Metiria Turei said the party was thankful for Dr Smith's continued funding for Ms Mather's note-taker.

The Greens remained of the view that services to members in the House and select committees were services to members overall and to the house overall "and should be treated like that in terms of budget''.

``This is not about individual support for individual members but about how Parliament becomes accessible to all members.''

The Greens this morning released legal advice from law firm Chapman Tripp which they said supported the view that funding for Ms Mathers' note-taker could come from the Office of the Clerk's budget, like Maori translation services.

``We want an outcome that recognises democratic participation in Parliament for people with disabilities is a right not a privilege,'' Mrs Turei said.