Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Senator referred to holding other Departments to account and asked how I would do so through my chairing of the steering group. I have a solution to that issue, which I discussed at a previous meeting of the committee. Every second meeting of the steering group will be thematic. I will take a thematic approach at those meetings. For example, if the issue of transport is being discussed, there will be outputs in terms of holding various Departments to account, as referred to by Deputy Hourigan. The Departments will be held to account by identifying the outputs and what has been achieved with regard to each issue. The group will address the various themes while I am chairing it throughout the year. The Departments with responsibility for issues such as employment, transport and housing will come before the group and set out their stall. The steering group will then follow up on that. It will take a thematic and accountability-based approach seeking solutions.

The Senator made a great point with regard to engaging more with IBEC and the chambers of commerce and so on. We need to support employers and let them know how they can engage. It should not be the case that only the service user or person with a disability has the responsibility to go to their employer. When we show we are serious about this issue and bringing more employers on board, more will follow, which will be an improvement on the small numbers at this moment in time.

The Minister and I have discussed the issue of Irish Rural Link ad nauseam. We recognise the role the organisation can play. The Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, has shared with me some really good and innovative ideas he has for County Kilkenny. It is about how we expand the rural scheme. In fact, the main issue currently in not providing service to persons who need to get to their workshop or day service is that there are so many vehicles in the fleet providing access to day services that they are crossing over each other's routes. We need to work more efficiently. One of the biggest issues raised by providers is that of the cost of transport. We are looking at initiatives whereby that would not be part of their bill but, rather, would come out of the Department of Transport's budget, for example. We look forward to working with other Deputies and Ministers who have experience in that field.