Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I want to acknowledge the work being done by CBM. I had not realised the impact of disasters on people with disabilities until I attended the event held by CBM in regard to the Philippines. That brought home in a stark way the impact disasters, whether man-made or natural, have on communities, but the impact on people with disabilities is a hundred thousand times worse. We are not as cognisant of that as we should be.

I know CBM is supportive of - I acknowledge the work it has done on this - having disability included in many of the sustainable development goals. However, we know these goals will not be worth the paper they are written on unless we make plans and these are monitored and implemented. I know there could be difficulties in regard to this if we just consider the data in terms of disability, as opposed to disaggregating it. I would like to hear CBM's views on that. It is important we get the evidence and that work is evidence-based in the future. If something is not working or achieving the target, how are we to deal with that? I believe regular but strict monitoring is required and that we need specific data on the goals and whether they are being achieved.