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

I apologise to Senator Garvey. I saw her hand up but I thought it was from her earlier contribution. Universal access is a major issue. We must seek to incorporate everybody into society to make sure we accommodate them.

The Joint Committee on Autism is doing significant work and must report by the end of March 2023. I wish the committee well. Autism is a significant issue that must be properly addressed. Some great work is being done in that regard. On behalf of both committees, I thank Mr. Adam Harris, CEO of AsIAm; from the Independent Living Movement Ireland, Mr. Desmond Kenny, Ms Catherine Gallagher and Mr. James Cawley; and from the National Disability Authority, Dr. Aideen Hartney, Dr. Gerald Craddock and Dr. Dónal Fitzpatrick.

Every Thursday we have evidence and questions from members of the joint committee. Today's sitting is of the two committees. People are genuinely looking for guidance as to how we can tackle inclusivity in society and deal with the existing challenges. All public representatives come across families, and they have their own families, and they see the challenges and barriers that exist. A number of witnesses spoke this morning about the barriers and the challenges that exist and how we get beyond them. We come across this daily. Sometimes we tear our hair out trying to see how we can rectify an issue for a very genuine case. It is only because of the work the witnesses do, the evidence they have given and their willingness to come before us and give us their honest appraisal of where things are at that we can then go on and try to do something proper for the challenges of the people we are duty-bound to represent in the autism committee and in the disability matters committee. It is most important the witnesses keep up their work.

Dr. Craddock referred to a submission he made to the National Transport Authority. I would appreciate it if he could provide a copy to the committee as I would like to follow up on it. I urge the witnesses to keep up the good work and to keep in contact with us. If there are things we are not doing properly, that we should be doing better or that we should be better at challenging, they should please not be afraid to come back to us and tell us. We will come back to the witnesses for further evidence and information. The press officer for the autism committee is also in the Gallery.

I thank our team and the autism committee's team. A significant amount of work goes on behind the scenes. It is the research and evidence the team puts together that make the committees work properly. I urge them to keep up the good work. We will try as best we can to make society better for people with disabilities, their families and their lived experience.