Ms Léan Kennedy:

I wholeheartedly thank the committee for listening to our opening statements and for looking at our position paper. On behalf of Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind and our clients who are blind or vision impaired and families of children with autism, we are happy to have the opportunity to speak with members and we are encouraged by the reaction we are getting today. The committee has listened to us thoroughly and came back with concrete critical questions so that we can have an open discussion on it. I am very invigorated and look forward to us progressing this. Let us not leave it at this meeting. Let us look forward and progress this as quickly as possible to ensure the Bill is amended to ensure the needs of people with disabilities are included and incorporated. We understand that e-scooter usage is happening. We must be sure of the ultimates that need to be put into the Bill so that their use does not inhibit or prohibit people with disabilities, particularly people who are blind or visually impaired with a guide dog or a long cane, and families of children with autism getting out and about safely. As I said earlier, we have been compromising for a number of years and pulling back on situations such as curbs being removed to facilitate traffic-calming measures and so on. We now need to ensure we step forward and do not compromise to the extent that people feel they cannot go out and about anymore. I thank the committee and look forward to future engagement on this matter.