Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their opening statements. There is no doubt we wish to see a human rights approach when dealing with people with disabilities, because they are foremost the people who matter. It is quite clear the way in which personal assistance is dealt with is totally inadequate. There are also variations in allocations and provisions throughout the country, which can be very frustrating. The CHO system in the HSE varies so much. I would love to see some better co-ordination or see how it works, because the differences between CHO 9 in my own area and other areas is massive. Do people over 65 exist, because it seems we cut personal assistance off after that age? That is mad. I wish to know what we are trying to do to rectify that, because it is totally unfair.

There is no national level database with accurate information on the personal assistance services throughout the country. What impact does the lack of a database have on progressing how things are gauged? What key measures are needed to be put in place to develop a proper standard of service? It is very important. While we are confined, in most cases, to one to five hours, when it comes to personal assistance, what happens to people late at night? What plan is there to look at that? Those hours could be more important than others in dealing with someone. The number of hours to help someone when it comes to employment are among the lowest. How will we address that further? It is unacceptable. Many people are so reliant on their family and friends. The support they get is not enough. I wish to hear more about how we will address that.