Mr. Damien Walshe:

I thank the Deputy for the question. I think we can all accept that the relevance and the awareness of statutory agencies and the political system around what a DPO is has increased substantially in the past couple of years, and credit to this committee for not only prioritising but also highlighting the role of DPOs. It is to be hoped it is something the committee will continue to do because it is a relatively new phenomenon in Ireland that we have these autonomous collective spaces led by disabled people. It is a credit to the Department that it is recognising there has not been that engagement but there is a commitment to do so. That needs to be amplified, not only at a national level to show that leadership in the climate action plans but, specifically, at a local level as well.

The Deputy asked, when DPOs represent their members, whether their suggestions are taken on board and if they are recognised. By and large, they are not. There are a number of committed disabled activists who continually raise issues about the danger of spared spaces, the removal of disabled parking bays - disabled parking bays that now open into roads pose a serious hazard to people with reduced mobility - and the movement of bus stops that assumes the sole reason people use public transport is to get to the city or town centre quickly and neglects that most people use them to get to points around their community and they are systems the public use to navigate society. What we need to do is amplify that voice.

Disabled people are beginning to self-organise, locally and nationally. There are commitments at a statutory level under the CRPD to have and resource that and to recognise their involvement, but there is a real need for leadership at a national level and this committee could be a driver for that. We all know there is a lot of ad hocdevelopment that is done at a local level that is not guided by national policy.

If we take something like the design manual for urban roads and streets, DMURS, that is a document that guides how local authorities plan their spaces. That has not been reviewed since we ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, CRPD. There are huge parts of that do not comply with the CRPD that need be disability equality proofed. That would be hugely advantageous because we would go from a reliance on good people in local authorities who see the value in engaging with DPOs and who recognise that Exchequer funds should be spent on spaces that are inclusive versus the system we have now that is very ad hoc. Often, systems are designed and then after the fact, when the design stage begins, disabled people are invited to give their views. Then, unfortunately, as I said, they are often ignored.

It is to recognise the role of DPOs as an ongoing authentic space that needs to be engaged with by policymakers. Leadership must be shown by the Department, particularly in climate adaption and mitigation strategies, to say we are committing to these sustainable development goals.

There is a goal under sustainable cities and communities. One of those goals is around making human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. We are in danger of creating an issue around active travel and investing in public transport systems that are not safe and not sustainable for many disabled people. We need to get this right. Given the urgency of the demands around climate change, we cannot invest in systems we then need to replace in a very short space of time because they are not compliant with the CRPD.