Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I also thank the witnesses. I regularly meet a constituent from Carlow who had a very bad accident resulting in a brain injury. His biggest concern is that if anything happens to him, he must go to Dublin if he is worried about an issue. There is no outreach support locally in Carlow. He has a great GP and that is not the problem. Rural areas, for example Carlow, do not have proper infrastructure. We do not have buses to take people around the town like the cities have. People with disabilities living in rural areas are at a major disadvantage. My friend who has the brain injury regularly tells me that it is like an invisible disability. If he needs anything at all, he needs to go to Dublin which is something we need to address.

There should be some automatic entitlement to medical cards. It is unfair for people to have to fight for them. We also need to address the position regarding bus passes.

The cost of living is very important. The failure to provide additional supports places people with disabilities at a marked disadvantage. Students with disabilities often need additional financial supports and it should not be allowed happen. I have worked very closely with the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Harris, and I am delighted that we will now have a technological university for the south east. We should ensure that our technological universities provide support for people with a disability. There needs to be some change there. We have never had so much funding for third level education. If we do not prioritise people with a disability now, it is unfair. We cannot allow it to happen.

At second level, there is career guidance available. There is something available at third level; I think it is called accessibility or something of that nature. I am not sure of the name. It is important that the Minister is also aware that we are meeting the needs of people with disabilities to encourage them to go to third level education. That should be our goal from this meeting. We should write to the Minister about this.

I know I am harping on about my constituency of Carlow-Kilkenny. We are very blessed to have Rehab and the Delta Centre in Carlow.

I have been told that some students with a disability who go out on work placement do not get a payment. These people are breaking many barriers, meeting people they do not know and it is outside their routine. It is something we need to look at. I am not sure it happens in all cases, but one or two people have told me they did not get payments. These are small things but can be quite important and we need to ensure they do not happen.

We need to look at a payment plan in respect of postgraduate fees. Anybody who wants to go to third level, particularly if they have a disability, should be encouraged to go. Based on today's meeting, it should be a priority for us to ensure that nobody who wants to go to third level or to do a degree would face any barriers related to resources or funding. It is hard enough as it is.

Many of the questions I was going to ask have already been posed. It is great that we highlighted the need and it is important for us to make people aware. It is harder for people with disabilities who live outside Dublin and the other cities. They are often forgotten and it is something that this committee needs to address. I have been listening to some of the witnesses' stories and I thank them.