Mr. Dermot Lowndes:

I will refer to the difficulty I experienced when I was in my day service. If we talk about the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act and this Bill, the staff in our day service tell us they do not have time. My experience of the law in Ireland is that members of the Garda are brilliant. Something happened to me and my sister and I had to go to court. The minute the judge heard that I had a disability, he showed me out. He told me to get down. If I robbed a car tonight and crashed it, they would not back me up. They would throw me in jail and throw away the key. There should be a law that the day service has to be in the law, know the law and help service users with the law. I had an experience with my mother that made me very bitter and angry that the law did not come to help me. All the help was for my mother and my sister. There was no one to help me. I feel very angry and bitter about that. I am over it now. There should be a law for people with disabilities and an ombudsman that goes into these organisations. If you report abuse, they do not want to know. The cases are thrown out of court. Nobody fights for us. They look the other way and walk away.