Ms Aoife O'Toole:

I acknowledge what Ms Walsh spoke about in responding to Deputy Wynne's question on what some of the drivers were to put this scheme in place and how the disabled people's organisations, DPOs, work together. Three elements underpinned the reform in Australia. Those were public support, political will and bureaucratic backing. Regarding public support, in every Australian campaign that was run, families told their stories just like Ms Walsh did, but they told them in a way that resonated with the Australian population. The public were not aware of the lived reality and they were quite shocked by it to the extent that 80% of the population voted for a 0.5% increase in their taxes in order that a system could be developed that was fair and equitable. The other feature that underpinned the reform was that it began with honesty. The productivity commission's report that Mr. Broadhead mentioned stated the system was broken, fragmented, unfair, crisis-driven, underfunded and inadequate. There was agreement and unity about the system being problematic but we are not seeing that in Ireland. That is very important. In terms of the DPOs and the disability organisations working together, they were quite fractured just as they are in Ireland, but they developed an inclusive and collective leadership and created an alliance. The agencies came together and worked on what they were in agreement with, which was that the system was broken, it needed to change, they needed to speak with one voice and they needed to work together to do that.