Ms Kathryn O'Shea:

As a parent of young adults with disabilities I would also like to comment as we are often left out of these discussions. Services are the middlemen so Government should be talking to us and people with disabilities to get the true picture of what it is like out there.

Deputy Murphy O'Mahony said that there is no clear definition in the convention of what a disability is. We should focus on a clear definition of what it is to be a human being as that would be much more beneficial. We still suffer from a misunderstanding that people with disabilities are, somehow, a different type of person and unless we get that basic piece right, we will never get the right conversations going.

Senator Colm Burke spoke about education and there is a real problem here. It is not just about education but a lack of purpose in the HSE and the whole service industry. I wonder if it is the intention that people be educated to get work and live independently or is this just a holding ground and people are educated until they are 18 and then moved into rehabilitative training, RT, or day services? What is the purpose of this? People with disabilities are the objects of these systems and not the subjects and this is a big problem.

There is great policy out there but it is not being implemented. Government designs the policy and passes on the contracts to middlemen for services but it is not happening. Why is it not happening? Do we need to sign the UNCRPD? Probably not. We are not denied rights in legislation - we are just not granted them.

One could say we could assume a right, but good luck with that. It will take a lot of resources but we need to decide. One must be accountable at the end of the day. It is not about another sector in society. I often wonder why everybody from the Government is not represented here because disabilities affect, or should affect, all Departments and not just the health sector. If we do not move it out of the health sector, we will not be able to implement the intention behind the convention either.