Ms Suzanna Weedle:

We are on the disability participation and consultation network and we are in the different disability forums. Obviously, we are not a disabled person's organisation. As far as we know, there is no disabled person's organisation, DPO, specifically around mental health difficulties. We know there are people with lived experience and living experience and who are experts by experience. I mention that link in with the HSE's mental health engagement and recovery office. It is a space where we are very conscious of the idea of nothing about us without us. We do not want to be seen to be speaking on behalf of anyone. We want to find that balance of how we amplify voices. The website, mentalhealthreform.ie, is there for people to contact us.

The work of this committee is so important and so integral to the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, UNCRPD. It is amazing that we ask DPOs and disabled people to take part in consultations but we also need to be cognisant that many of them are working so they might be volunteering in their DPOs. It is about how we make things more accessible, for example, by having evening consultations. With the disability participation and consultation network, we have meetings monthly on a Thursday from 5.30 p.m. to 7 p.m., so that people in DPOs can attend. This is my job and I am paid to be there, but we always have to be cognisant that if a person is already working or volunteering, we have to make things accessible because we want to hear from disabled people.

As part of our work with the disability participation and consultation network, we are doing a consultation piece on how best to engage with people with psychosocial disabilities. I refer to things like being online and not wanting your camera on or not wanting to share your full name. We are hoping that by the end of this year, we will have this piece completed which we will happily send it to the committee to inform its work.

In the meantime, we will mention the UNCRPD and the optional protocol to all the other committees as well as ask them to please talk to the DPOs and to the Joint Committee on Disability Matters. We try to send them the committee's way, so I thank it for all its work.