Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Kavanagh, Ms Quigley, Ms Browne and Mr. Sinnott for their evidence today. Funding, recognition and the comment from an official in respect of the real world is extremely telling. It is extremely telling because whose real world are we living in? We have to be all-encompassing and ensure everybody is facilitated. Our committee has met on 37 or 38 occasions over the past while. Our members are extremely committed to advancing the cause, to doing right and to making sure that when we are finished the life and the circumstances of people with disabilities are highlighted and improved. Sometimes we speak almost in a vacuum. We speak to witnesses every Thursday morning and very powerful evidence, no more than what was given today, is given to us in regard to the daily challenges the witnesses have. We launched a report on some of the work we have done on Ensuring Independent Living and the UNCRPD four weeks ago. No member of the media cared to turn up to go through the report with us. If we started throwing rotten apples at each other, we would be on the front page of the Irish Independent every week but members of our committee put party politics aside when they come into the room and do what is right. That is from our side. If witnesses take that to their side, to the DPOs and the organisations they represent, and the invisibility within mainstream media, it is not trendy enough but it is the lived and the life experience.

Depending on the statistics, 20% of people have a disability of some form, which is one fifth of our population. There is a huge challenge to try to make the case and highlight the challenges that are there. On a Thursday morning, we hear the phrase "the real world" that reflects the attitude. Our committee and the Houses of the Oireachtas have to make sure the real world shines a light on what the real world is for 20% of the people and make it better.

I hear the witnesses loud and clear in regard to the issues they have raised. We will continue to bang the drum as loud as we can. Maybe we need to bang the drum louder and get the percussion set going rather than just the drums to make it a bit louder but we will certainly do that.

I thank the witnesses for their powerful evidence. Mr. Kavanagh made his point, although not in an adversarial way. The stronger the witnesses are to us, the stronger we can be in highlighting the challenges. They should not apologise or question this in any way. The stronger they are to us, either collectively as a committee or privately, the stronger we can be because we can only act on how they are empowering us. We will continue to do so.

I thank our members for their dedication to the job in hand and our background team.