Ms Bairbre Nic Aongusa:

Senator Clonan will appreciate that I cannot speak for the Department of Transport or for Irish Rail, but on a more general point, I heard the DPO network speak about the importance of a human rights-based approach. Having worked in the fields of disability and mental health for many years, I am aware of the difference between DPOs and disability service providers. I hear what has been said about the importance of DPOs being represented on structures as well as service providers. I also appreciate that awareness is not universal across the public sector at present.

With respect to the policies of the Department of Rural and Community Development, our flagship community development policy is called sustainable, inclusive and empowered communities and one of the key commitments in it is to training and capacity building among public sector bodies, including local authorities and national bodies. This includes training on the public sector duty to improve awareness of the importance of the human rights-based approach in all our work on community development.

Regarding DPO members working in a voluntary capacity, the Department has a national policy on volunteering. We fund volunteer centres to support people who are volunteering. While I cannot speak specifically about funding DPOs, through our work in supporting volunteers and volunteer management, we do our best to support anyone who is volunteering in communities and we are happy to provide further information on that if it is required.