Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It was very refreshing to listen to Professor Quinn and I wish him the best of luck in his very important role. I have no doubt, in light of what he shared with us, that he is the right person for the job. He outlined the whole notion of bridging abstract ideas and making them pragmatic and practical on the ground. That is his role, working with us, and I have no doubt we can work together really well. He talked about the committee having been set up and being one of the first of its type in the world. At our previous meeting, we said we wanted to show ambition and leadership and to make a difference to the lives of people with disabilities. How can we reflect that in our terms of reference?

Professor Quinn mentioned the optional protocols and how important they are. We have discussed them in recent meetings and would appreciate the advice he could give us in that regard. One of the key ways in which we want to do our business really well is by hearing the voices of people with disabilities, and we have received more than 180 submissions from people with disabilities, which is great. We want to ensure we go through them all in detail. Is there anything else that Professor Quinn feels we should do to ensure that the voices of those with disabilities are heard?

Will the professor elaborate on the key process innovations he mentioned? We would love to engage with other parliaments to ensure we can learn from them and they can learn from us. While we have a national function, globally we need to work to ensure that people with disabilities are accepted throughout the world and have opportunity throughout the world.