Tom Clonan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh na finnéithe go léir chuig an gcoiste. I know Leo and Peter. Last year, shortly after I was elected, they came to visit me. The first thing that struck me was their energy and the anger they expressed in regard to the status of our disabled citizens. During our meeting in the visitors' bar, Peter and his daughter informed me they were going for a walk, and off they went. I realised that Peter knew Leinster House better than I did and knew more people here than I did. Likewise, when we were leaving, Leo pointed me back in the direction of my office. I was a little disorientated.

The concerns of DPOs should come as no surprise to any Member of the Oireachtas. The witnesses have been very invested in advancing their cause. Despite all the challenges and obstacles, they have made their case very clearly, in line with the CRPD. It strikes me at many of these meetings that everybody on one side of the room is on a subsistence payment, travel allowance or some other allowance. The only people in the room who are here on their own expense and unpaid are disabled persons. That constitutes a real barrier to participation.

Shortly after I met Leo and Peter, Robert and I had a very interesting telephone conversation in which he set out for me the provisions of the CRPD. He helpfully pointed out the section that mandates me, as a parent and carer, to speak to the lived experience of disability.

I apologise for being late this morning, but what also struck me in Dr. Sinnott's submission was the casual and cruel obstacles placed in his path to realising his full potential with his doctorate. If we were to replace the word "disabled" with "LGBTQI", "on the basis of ethnicity", "on the basis of sexual orientation", "on the basis of identity" or "on the basis of religious formation", we would quite rightly be up in arms. It would bring the country to a halt. However, for some reason when it comes to disability Ireland accepts and reinforces the obstacles that are often so cruel, capricious and heartless.

I have a couple of questions on that because I am on a journey, as our guests are. Is Ireland an outlier when it comes to disability? We are the only country in the EU where the State is not legally mandated or obliged to look after our disabled citizens, whether it is with therapy support, surgical interventions or personal assistants. I have met disabled citizens from other jurisdictions and the level of support, autonomy, personal choice and capacity to live independent lives notwithstanding the challenges is in very sharp contrast to that of people in Ireland. Ireland is one of the worst countries in the EU to have a disability in. For shame. Is that our guests' experience?

If we are one of the worst, why is that? I suspect there is something in the Irish psyche and in our culture around shame. It is the only conclusion I can reach. There is a very peculiar attitude. Disability is not celebrated. There is a narrow, rigid understanding of what we celebrate, so people get it in the sporting arena, but they do not get it elsewhere. Ms Quan Farrant is welcome. I have friends in Brisbane and Wollongong, a long way away from here. She talked about the remotest parts of Australia. In the summertime, my 21-year-old son has no supports. That is something we have remedied this year. He spent last summer in his bedroom looking out the window all day as a 21-year-old man. That is remote. That is the dark side of the moon. It is for want of a personal assistant. That would allow him to live an autonomous and independent life. Thus, the second question is what is it about here that makes this so.

I agree with Ms Quan Farrant we need to move on from the social model to a very noisy, fundamental human rights or radical approach. Everything we have been doing so far has not made a difference. In our lived experience, by all the objective measures, things have deteriorated here in the last ten years. I have come across people in the HSE, including disability service managers, who put obstacles in your path. We have not chosen to be in this space. We are in it by virtue of the circumstances of who we are. These are people who have chosen to gravitate and go into these professional roles and use their significant power and resources to put obstacles in our pathway. That is why I absolutely endorse Article 4.3 and the idea that DPOs and the voice of disabled persons should be front and centre. I have raised two philosophical questions, namely, whether Ireland is an outlier and in guests' experience and their view, what the reason for that is. I thank them for their time and for coming in.