Mr. Peter Gohery:

First of all, I thank everyone. We had a protest a couple of weeks ago outside the gates of Leinster House about getting the optional protocol ratified. I thank every Deputy who turned up that day, as well as fellow DPO members and colleagues who turned up to support us. However, I was horrified to see the lack of support from other people in here in Leinster House. Even on that day, one person with a disability walked by us and seemed to not even see us. It was a real slap in the jaw to us. That day I sat back and observed what was going on to see how we were being treated and I was horrified to see it. I am thankful for the support on the day.

The other thing I was going to say earlier was in response to the mention of discrimination. A lady in our organisation went back to college and she had her daughter with her just to see how everything was going. The disabled bathrooms were not fit for purpose. She had to get her daughter to stand at the door so nobody else would come in while she was using the facilities.

It is a disgrace that it happens in this day and age.

Regarding why Ireland is the way it is, years ago, if you were born with a disability, you were put into a mother and baby home or the asylum, which was wrong. If Stephen Hawking was alive in Ireland in those times, we would probably have locked him up. People do not see us that way. They see us as a burden on society. We did not make the problems but we have the solutions and if the committee listens to us, these solutions will not cost a lot of money but if we keep going the way we are going, it will cost someone a fortune. It is not for me; we are fighting for everyone throughout the country. I thank the committee for all its help and everything it has done for us. I thank the speaker from Australia who told us what is going on. I hope that someone does listen because the system out there seems to be much fairer and they are listening.

The one expression I hate is "lived experience". It should be living experience because "lived" to me means I had a disability and I am better now. Unfortunately, I will never change. It is the living experience. If you have a disability before the age of 18, as soon as your 18th birthday arrives, the next thing that happens is that you are brought in for an assessment again. Somehow or other, the system in this country thinks that the day you turn 18 is the day you have left your disability behind you. It is a disgrace regardless of whether you are missing a leg or have some other disability. If you had it from birth or before the age of 18, it will not disappear magically when you reach the age of 18 and I am sure it is the same for visual impairment.