Mr. Colm ? Conaill:

I will ask Mr. Brunell to speak to the reservations on the convention and to address the issues raised by the Deputy regarding DPOs. The blind pension is a matter for the Department of Social Protection rather than for us.

The Deputy referred to residential care. The entire point in terms of service provision for specialist disability services is that we have significant unmet need at the moment and, due to demographics, will face increased demand for residential care. We will have to do it in two ways. One is that we need investment for planned care. There is money in the budget this year and it is being spent but too much of it is going to emergency residential care, which is expensive and complex care. There is a need for much more focus on expanding planned residential care. The other piece is to try to avoid expensive residential care to the greatest extent possible. Any other supports that can be provided to families in the form of respite and other supports will be a much more sustainable approach in terms of what we do to support individuals with disabilities and their families. I ask Mr. Brunell to speak to the issues on the convention and DPOs.