Mr. Tony Cunningham:

No, the Kilkenny model is open for over a year. Once it was set up we saw it was a great success. We were looking to expand that around the country. For example, the HSE area in the south had expressed an interest and we put a proposal together for it. The funding has not come forward at this point but it is looking to source the funding to operate a similar model in the south using a hotel facility. We always had members and people from Ireland and abroad contacting us and looking for details of accessible hotels. We were looking to see if we could roll this out around the country so people could have more options.

It is not about the hotels. In 1997 there was a lack of accessibility in general and even at shops there may have been steps at the doors. Shopping centres and hotels are now more accessible and they are around the country.