Mr. Pat Clarke:

I will try to be as brief as possible. If I may, I will go back to what Senator Flynn asked. There are training modules that encourage people with disabilities to get involved in political and public life. There is one particular one that was championed by Down Syndrome Ireland, called My Opinion, My Vote. That training module is EU funded and it is available through Down Syndrome Ireland's website. I am sure members all know this but there is a person with Down syndrome on the executive committee of Fianna Fáil. That young man was recently elected and came through the My Opinion, My Vote programme.

On the other issues, the EDF will keep fighting at EU level. The new EU electoral law was heavily influenced by the EDF. Now we need to get that law transferred, transposed and acted upon within the Irish context. The Deputy asked how change came about. Basically, it was because DPOs in all those countries fought and fought to get the law changed. There are some very good examples in Germany and Spain. In the run-up to the last European elections, over 80,000 people with intellectual disabilities were given the right to vote. It was re-granted, if you like, or given back to them. Over the whole of Europe, there is a utopia. It is there but not every country is doing it all at the one time. Ireland fares better than most but it is not perfect. The same goes for Spain, France, Germany and Belgium. Belgium would not be great at all. That is where it is at. If we could just collect all the good things that are done in all the countries and put them into one big package that was universal across Europe, our problem would be solved but that is going to take some time.