Mr. Pádraig Naughton:

On the basic income for artists, we have been contacted by artists with disabilities who feel hard done by because they cannot participate in the scheme owing to the social protection thresholds. This is an issue not so much for the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media to resolve but for the Department of Social Protection. The thresholds are quite arbitrary and relatively low. We need something that is much more flexible.

On the Deputy's question on "Nothing About Us Without Us", that was the mantra of the International Disability Caucus when the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, CRPD, was being negotiated at the UN from the early 2000s until 2006, when it was finally ratified by the UN General Assembly.

The way to deal with that is to draw in people such as me and Ms Millar, who have lived experiences alongside our allies and who are important in making what we do happen and also providing a multiplier that makes sure the voices of people with disabilities are heard more often, rather than us representing ourselves all the time.