Mr. Peter Tyndall:

There are many issues there. The first one I will address is the issue of older people and disability. When I did the Wasted Lives report one of the things that was pointed out is that there are quite a few older people in nursing homes who ought to be in the community as well, or who would want to be in the community. We focused on a particular tranche of people but that did not mean we took the view that others were properly there. I do not take that view. Part of that is that, to remain in the community you have to be able to have access. When Emily O'Reilly highlighted the fact that the schemes discriminated against older people, it was exactly that point. The requirements for older and disabled people can be just the same as for younger and disabled people so the notion that the scheme should have been closed at a particular age made no sense whatsoever. I endorse that point.

In regard to the point on transport in rural areas, I am not conscious of our having had many complaints about that, which makes it more difficult for me to comment on. We have a particular role under the disability legislation, particularly around access to public buildings, and I encourage members in dealing with constituents but also the organisations working with disabled people to encourage more people to bring complaints to my office. It is only when we have some evidence that we are in a position to move forward with issues. I am well aware of the issue and the fact that we were embarrassed into improvements but people were not complaining particularly, to my knowledge, to this office. In the future, if people are aware of it as an issue, help them to come. Have I covered all the points the Senator raised?