Mr. Conor McAuley:

I thank the committee for being here today to listen to me. The future of Ireland should be an all-inclusive one, where community surroundings are adapted to suit people’s needs so they that can live and work independently. Equality on our island of Ireland is a must. This means fully accessible transport throughout Ireland and not being left on a roadside because an inaccessible coach turns up or being left in a train station because it is unmanned, or having the person you booked 24 hours in advance not show up. Recently, our Government in the South invested in 41 new rail car carriages that disabled people still will not be able to get on independently and still will have to book 24 hours in advance.

On the issue of suitable, accessible housing, one person in eight on the island of Ireland has a disability and housing should be adapted to their needs. Local authorities need to include community support systems. Personal assistance is necessary to support living and inclusion in the community. People have also been on waiting lists for social housing for years and this needs to change. Youth services should be made all-inclusive so that no one feels isolated or alone, because mental health, I feel, is a disability in itself. We need more access to these services.

Hospital services are severely delayed and diagnosis of conditions are taking so long that it delays supports being put placed to help somebody with their disability. If there is a service available through the NHS that is not available through the HSE or vice versa, we all should be able to access it on either side of the country.

Counselling also should be made more available and quicker to access for people with disabilities. In my own experience, I have been sent to appointments up a flight a stairs in buildings that the HSE use. I have had to ring to change those appointments to suitable venues that are further away.

The Government, when introducing the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, said that the cost of living is approximately €350 a week and rising, yet it expects people to live on a disability allowance of just €220 or even less in the North of Ireland. Carer’s allowance should not be means tested, because carers are either underpaid or not paid at all. Most people are carers not through choice but through circumstances. When education stops, so do personal assistant, PA, hours and people with disabilities are left fighting yet again when they need their PA most in order to help them live and work independently.

Workplaces should be more accessible and inclusive for people with disabilities and they should be able to get easy access to PAs in order for them to contribute back to society.

There should be more incentives for companies take on people with disabilities. I hope that the laws that have been implemented in recent years are put into practice so that all the people of Ireland, regardless of disability, religion, sex or nationality are treated equally, with the respect that we all deserve. I thank the committee for letting me speak here today.