Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am in Leinster House. I welcome our guest speakers. It is good we are speaking about disabilities because I always feel it is an area we need to get stronger on. I am really glad about and welcome the fact that Ireland for the first time has a Department with the word "disability" in its title. That is a good sign. I agree that both the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, and the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, should make an annual statement to the Dáil on Ireland's progress in implementing the UNCRPD, commencing this year. We have to make sure that happens. I ask that as a committee we do so because it is very important.

We have spoken about data. I had a question about that but I am glad to say it has been answered. We need to look at that. Many people I work with say to me it is a matter of the social cost of living with a disability. There are huge issues in that regard. We have spoken about education and employment. Transport is another issue we need to look at. We need to recognise the need to support persons with a disability to stand for elections. If we have learned one thing, it is that it is so important now that everyone gets to do what they want to do in life. One could not get a better statement than "a vision for a better life". How can we improve the participation of and consultation with people with disabilities across all disabilities and ensure that the hard-to-reach are included? That is where I have a big concern: that we make sure everybody is included. Ms Gibney spoke about Covid. Our disability sector had been really affected by Covid, and the Government needs an emergency plan. We need to have that in place. I ask that we look at that.

I was a bit surprised by the employment figures. They show Ireland to be the country with the lowest rate of employment of persons with disabilities. That is unacceptable. There are huge challenges here and we need to address them.

Dr. Lynch spoke about an implementation plan being in place by 2022. He might provide more information on that. It will be the key for this. I thank all the speakers. Many of the questions I had have been answered.