Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Good morning to everyone and well done on the testimonies. We need the truth to be put on the table and the witnesses did that. Listening to the speakers, the first thing that struck me and that has been mentioned a number of times concerns mental health and disabilities. Supports seem to be practically non-existent for people, especially in the disabilities service, who need extra supports. It was also mentioned that funding is legislated more in the Six Counties. I remember in the previous Dáil working with Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin on disabilities. Again, it is about information. We learned there was a specialist centre in Middletown, County Armagh that covered the Thirty-two Counties and was funded by both Ireland's and England's education sectors. Witnesses are talking about funding, and looking at it on an all-Ireland basis might be more beneficial.

I want to go back to some of the lads' testimonies. It excites me when people are being given chances. It is something I am passionate about. A number of years ago a lady in my town started a summer school for people with autism or any kind of disability. I think it started 27 years ago with about 30 people. She has over 140 people per year for the summer camp and maybe 300 volunteers who come on board to assist these people. The witnesses are right in saying we learn from one another. It changed my children's lives because they stopped taking things for granted.

My biggest worry here is the gap relating the opportunity to get upskilled to gain employment. On the downside of that, many people will be restricted when it comes to hours, so the ability to make a living wage becomes a problem. If you go into part-time work, does that affect your social welfare payments or is there something we can do to offset that for people and make it more attractive? Unfortunately, the way things work is that if you go into a CE scheme or something, the lads here will not get paid. If they go into part-time work and get paid, do they lose some of their social welfare payments? That does not encourage anybody.

I love what Mr. Coates said about being self-employed. He grabbed the bull by the horns and said he would not take it anymore and would do it for himself. That should be an inspiration to anybody. If you are not happy with the way life is going, the only person who can change that is you.

The issue about employment and the property trap is significant, but the word "disability" is at the crux for me. Witnesses mentioned the UNCRPD on rights and a rights-based approach. It must be nine years ago that we did a streetscape in our town with the town council and brought in all the service users in the town, including people with disability. That section of the streetscape won a European mobility award because everybody was listened to. It is a two-way track here. We have to listen to the witnesses and also to take on board how we can assist them. If Mr. Le Roux, Mr. Smyth and Ms Doherty each had one wish that in three months' time, through legislation, something would change rapidly and be of huge benefit to everybody in the meeting, what would that be?