Mr. Pat Murphy:

I thank the Chairman and Deputy Cairns for her questions. I will copper-fasten what Mr. Flanagan has said. In a previous life I managed the Centre for Independent Living in Limerick. Having a PA is transformative and it allows people to live full inclusive lives and I echo all of his sentiments in that regard.

On the employer’s side of the Deputy’s question, we work very hard to build relationships. We are involved in chambers of commerce, business associations and, perhaps, in rural areas it is easier to build those links than in urban areas. We work very hard at getting to know the main employers in an area and building very strong relationships with the management and human resources, HR, structures in their organisations. It becomes a trust thing. As I said, we have quite an extensive database of employers who we can call upon for employment and work experience options, and so on. We work hard at this.

More generally speaking, there should be more national awareness campaigns around employer’s obligations and the benefits in employing people with disabilities within their organisation, in the diversity that brings and how it helps their organisations. Does that answer the Deputy’s question?