Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ms Lally touched on the understanding of universal design. I put my hand up and admit that I used to understand universal design was for everyone, whether an older person with limited mobility, any person with limited mobility or a person in a wheelchair. Then we found out that is not the case. There is universal design, universal design for people in wheelchairs and universal design for people with automated wheelchairs. For that to be understood in the 31 local authorities, everyone needs to implement the same standards.

Another issue I encountered in Cork during the pandemic was that many places were made available for outdoor dining. As a result, there were issues with disabled parking and accessibility. I know today we are talking about universal design but how do Age Action or any of the other witnesses feel about the fact there are standards there but they are not being implemented?