Mr. Padraic Moran:

In regard to "Prime Time", what has not been mentioned is that neither Minister showed up. Why? It was because they could not, and did not want to try to, defend what was happening. What the Senator said was shocking, in that the committee is not listened to. It goes back to my point that there is no respect for people with disabilities. I will support any party if it means that people do not have to go through this in 20 years' time. When I did my leaving certificate examination in 2004, I got the same ten minutes. Nothing has been adapted and nothing has changed because the same people are in the same jobs and they do not understand that the world had moved on. I have been encouraged to enter politics and I am really thinking about doing. The fact the committee members said they are not listened to, and they are in the tent, says that the Government does not care. It does not because if the Government cared, it would listen to committee members.

People with disabilities do not need everything. They just need something and that is the important thing. We do not own this; we are all custodians of this. What we need to do is to leave it in a better place than what we found but right now, Ireland is failing fundamentally and completely to do that. If the Opposition and Government committee members are being ignored and that they hear this week in, week out, I will happily come back in with Mr. Delaney to another meeting of this committee and answer those questions. I would love to appear in front of the heads of Departments because it is a lot more difficult to dodge a question when there is a face in front of you of a person who is being impacted by a situation. It is much easier dealing with committee members because they are all nice people, as Ms Smith said. It is easier for the heads of Departments to dodge the questions of committee members than ours because there is a face in front of that question to which they must defend the cut. That is part of the problem. The heads of Departments are so used to coming in and dodging a question because members all have faces but they are not the ones who are impacted by it. I will happily come in and work with anybody because my mantra is that if I can leave it in a better position than I found it, I have done a good job as nobody else in ten, 15 or 20 years' time will have to go through, or battle against, what we have experienced.

Let us make Ireland a more accessible State that has equal opportunity and equality for disabled people. Let us not keep doing this every year, and every week for the committee members, because if that is happening and nothing moves on, it is a pointless conversation. We really need to examine how we do business as a country and a Government but let us leave everything in a better position than we found it.