Mr. John Dolan:

I might make a few comments on that question, and others may want to come in as well.

The Deputy mentioned people feeling abandoned. Post-Covid was not the first time he or his colleagues heard people talk about feeling abandoned by the State and by public services. It has ratcheted up hugely since the pandemic but things have been in a difficult space for a long number of years and we have not figured out a way. It goes back to a point made by Mr. Conaty about getting the numbers. The numbers are going against us. Babies are being born today who would not have seen the light of day ten years ago. There are more complex needs. People are generally living longer. People with disabilities are, thankfully, living longer. Our demographic trends are going against us. That is the frustration that policymakers have sometimes when they think they are putting in more money, but they are not putting in enough of that additional money for the greater need that is there. The feeling of abandonment is certainly being very much heightened.

The other issue is about lack of ambition. It is not good enough that people with disabilities do not die from Covid. It is absolutely magnificent that there has not been the kind of attrition we have seen in other areas on that matter for people with disabilities. However, the ambition cannot be that people's lives go into a freezer during the Covid period and we think that is okay; it is not okay. The Deputy asked for a range of Ministers to be brought in and he is absolutely right. Without even mentioning the UNCRPD, that is what it is all about. It is every Minister's job; it is every part of the public service's job to do their part and to do it together. First among equals is Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy O'Gorman, who is now in a position to be at the core of that and to be the driver of that.

I would like to make one further point and then allow my colleagues to come in.