Ms Selina Bonnie:

It is lovely to see Deputy Higgins and I thank her for her very kind words. I am very proud to work for such a wonderful local authority. On the question of health screening and access to same, the problem is that quantitative data have not been collected. This is an area that must be addressed so that we really know what we are dealing with. From a qualitative point of view, the stories I could tell the committee that I have heard from other disabled women are shocking. Considering the number of cases that have gone through the courts already in this area of life, one would think we would be a bit more careful about including and meeting the needs of women in Ireland, regardless of their ability.

On the Bill, there are key concerns relating to a number of different heads of Bill, particularly the one related to the welfare of the child. Judging that can be very subjective. What does one understand by quality of life or welfare? I had personal experience many years ago of being refused assistance unless the professional could be guaranteed that I would not have a disabled child. That is just one example of the very broad issues that exist. The voices of those upon whom legislation impacts need to be included in the process.

On the issue of remote working, the idea itself is not new. The disabled community has been promoting remote working as a way of enabling people to access employment for decades but it took a global pandemic to show the world that we know what we are talking about. If one looks at it from a wider perspective, when we talk about value for money, we need to be learning from the lived experience of the people to whom we want to deliver services. That is the only way we can be guaranteed that we achieve value for money. We think we are doing the right thing but we are not using lived experience to shape our decisions. That is my short answer.