Mr. Patrick O'Sullivan:

While my primary focus is housing for disabled people, the Senator is moving into the wider realms of investment in parks, which very much rests with local authorities in the wider context of their responsibilities under the Disability Act. The way to address it is continual emphasis on the reapportionment of funding so that it delivers where challenges are being met. Beyond that, the fact it is being highlighted as an issue means that when we are working with local authorities, we can bring that message back to understand better how they take account of the issue, particularly as regards autistic children, who depend quite heavily on this.

With regard to homelessness, approximately 25% of the homeless are people with disabilities. As I mentioned, it is driven by a high proportion, as I understand it, of people with mental health challenges. Therefore, we have to focus our efforts on addressing where the specific need is. We worked with the HSE on providing funding for tenancy sustainment officers because of that high proportion of homeless people with a disability who have a mental health issue.