Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank everyone for coming before the committee and giving us their time. Today's theme of self-advocacy and women with disabilities is an important consideration for the committee. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is about providing a rights-based approach to disability. This is a two-sided coin because it is about empowering people to understand and exercise their rights but also about increasing Government and State accountability to respect, protect and fulfil rights. I welcome the strong points made in the opening statements that self-advocacy is a complex area and it should not be an additional burden placed on disabled people, especially women. The State needs to put in place structures to facilitate and foster self-advocacy, be that for individuals or DPOs.

My first questions are for Disabled Women Ireland. I was struck when its open statement said that advocacy can place the burden in regard to access on each disabled person's shoulders and it can involve real dangers for the individual advocating. Can Disabled Women Ireland elaborate on those points? Words like "advocacy" and "empowerment" can be too easily employed without fully considering their implications. They also stressed the importance of DPO funding in capacity building which they described as being largely tokenistic and unlikely to affect real change. My understanding of DPOs and their vital function has been transformed by discussions of this committee. I know a lot of work is still to be done by the State in recognising and really promoting the model. What should the State be providing in financial and other supports to be compliant with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as outlined in general comment 7?

I am eager to hear Inclusion Ireland’s comments on what the State needs to do to support the development of DPOs. Its explanation of advocacy as relationship was striking especially in terms of people who might find it challenging to express themselves verbally. Can its representatives discuss the type and scale of work that goes into developing this form of advocacy? Ms Coates spoke about why it is important to have information in a way that can be understood and to design more easy-to-read information and videos to help make informed decisions. Could she tell us why that is important?

Finally, Ms Gjacaj rightly chose to discuss gender-based violence. That is an unfortunate reality. We always have to discuss it on International Women’s Day, or maybe I should say international women’s week as today is the day after. She explained the reality that disabled women are at higher risk of experiencing domestic violence than non-disabled women. Has she suggestions for immediate measures that could be taken to address gender-based violence particularly regarding disabled women?