Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 17 February 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters

Aligning Education with the UNCRPD (Resumed): Discussion

Mr. Barry McGinn:

I will reiterate the things we are asking the committee to consider. The transitions after primary school and between training and employment have been watermarks across this committee's discussion today. That is an area the committee should be minded to focus on. I appreciate the intelligent way in which that has been engaged with. The committee has been probing. As Ms Kelly said, better career guidance is important, as are the improvement of post-training supports, the development of options for people with moderate, profound and superior disabilities, and a better funded system. I will not repeat the difficulties in navigating the social welfare system and the system more generally, because Ms Newman and Ms Lawless have already articulated those. Those are interesting points that have stuck with me. We have used the terms "navigate" and "negotiate" at various stages and with great frequency at this meeting. It should not be the case that we have to navigate and negotiate a system. That should not be the case in particular for people who are already experiencing disadvantage. We need to be better at that. We should be leading and not negotiating and navigating.

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