Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for missing the start of the meeting. I was next door at a meeting of the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage. I am trying to bilocate. I read all the opening statements and thank our guests for writing them. I also thank them for taking the time to be with us to engage in this important discussion.

I was struck my what Mr. Sherwin said, which was that DPOs not only need to be invited to the table but fully included. That goes back to Mr. O'Dea's point about having the funding to make that happen. Every DPO is under pressure. Resources are being pulled apart. As we, as a State, focus more on this area, as we need to because it is the right thing to do, the unintended consequence, unfortunately, is that it puts more pressure on the DPOs. We want to consult and tap into that lived experience and use it to shape the State's policies and services but, as Mr. O'Dea has said, people cannot consult for free. I hear that loud and clear and will take that message with me.

Mr. O'Dea also made the point that everybody here is a professional and has professional experience to share. That brings me to my area of particular interest, namely, barriers to employment. I would appreciate it if our guests could take the time to outline what they see as barriers to employment and how we should be breaking them down. Prior to my election as a Deputy, I worked in an organisation that did its best to ensure it hired people on a more inclusive basis. We partnered with a number of DPOs and higher education institutions to ensure we were doing that effectively and it was working well. Perhaps our guests would share the benefit of their experience.

I will make a suggestion in response to Mr. Kavanagh's passionate plea for better engagement from the State and particular civil servants. His suggestion of an ombudsman for disability was interesting. I am also a member of the Committee on Public Petitions and the Ombudsmen. That committee might be able to consider the issue. Perhaps Mr. Kavanagh would like to make a petition to the committee to investigate the issue. That committee has dealings with ombudsmen. The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission will be before the committee today. The committee takes petitions on board and works closely with ombudsmen. Mr. Kavanagh might make his suggestion to that committee and I can support him.

I would like to hear from our guests about barriers to employment.