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

I thank the witnesses. I apologise as I was in the Chair for a while and I was coming and going. I read the information in the submissions that we are all aware of. It is like everything in life, unless you or a family member is in that position, you do not realise that the system is not functioning correctly. That is something we must address. We have an excellent Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, who has responsibility for disabilities, but my biggest concern is that in recent months part of her remit was to be with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. However, she is still in the Department of Health under the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly. I am very concerned about that. I ask the committee to write today to the officials in the Department of Health asking when the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, will come within the remit of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. That is so important. Because she is being moved to a different Department, we must also ask what her exact functions will be and what we can do to help. This will be a big step but it has been going on for too long. It is not acceptable at this stage that she is still under the remit of the Minister for Health. We must get clarity on the situation. I ask that we seek clarity, get the date and find out what exactly is the function of the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, and what we can do to make sure that we give our full support and get the matter sorted.

Some of my questions were answered. I read in the information that more than one in four people living with a disability do not use public transport due to reasons of accessibility. In my constituency, it is only in the coming weeks that the train station in Carlow will be wheelchair accessible. That is not acceptable. We are living in 2021, yet we did not have a wheelchair-accessible railway station in the main commuter hub of Carlow. That is such a big issue and we must address it.

Polling booths were a big issue during the elections, especially for people who were visually impaired. We must make sure that we address the matter. Another issue I am working on is the fact that Carlow Garda station is not wheelchair accessible. These are things that should not be allowed to happen. We on this committee should not allow that to happen. These are the areas on which we need to focus. Previous speakers such as Councillor Bailey and Councillor Cronnelly have spoken about this.

It is so important when a person is in a position to do so that he or she constantly fights. The witnesses seem to be fighting a battle and there must be more awareness and understanding about it. Councillor Bailey spoke about education, special needs assistants and special classrooms. We must ensure we prioritise these more. It is something I am really dedicated to. All the members of the committee will be 100% committed to working and achieving what we need to achieve for people with disabilities to ensure there is access, understanding and awareness.

I thank the witnesses for coming today. I missed some of the meeting because I was speaking in the Dáil. Many of questions I wanted to ask have been asked already.