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

It is very important that we get the lived experience every Thursday morning and reflect on it. I know the members take very seriously our obligation as members of the committee. There has been a number of issues in this morning's evidence, among which there is a proper mobility. I know that Mr. Carty alluded to there being intricacies and challenges in having it be universal and making it as accessible as possible to everybody, but we need to have a new system. The carer's allowance should be care assessed rather than means assessed. We have to push very strongly for that.

The level of work, patience, dedication and commitment by family members who have people with disabilities constantly amazes me. We have to and intend to keep highlighting the shortfall from the State's point of view. An issue was raised in terms of the purchase versus the lease of vehicles. We tried that through the Revenue Commissioners, through the scheme. The lease went down, rather than the purchase. Somebody had leased the vehicle because he or she would not have been able to purchase it. That needs to be rectified, because it is a glaring anomaly in the system. It is also totally and absolutely unacceptable that the appeals board is not up and running and functioning at this stage.

I thank the witnesses for their evidence and honesty and their being up front. It greatly enhances our work as a committee. We will continue to reflect on it. I thank our members sincerely for their work and for being with us this morning. I also thank our background team, which keeps us going and does all of the heavy lifting and work.