Erin McGreehan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Hennessy this morning. It is nice to see him in person and, after the email correspondence, to put a face to the emails. I thank him for his contribution.

First, I want to say I am sorry that Mr. Hennessy had to close his business due to the State having a lack of ambition for its citizens and being unable to support Mr. Hennessy with his talent and the situation he is in. Mr. Hennessy happens to have a disability but the State penalises him for that disability instead of encouraging and supporting him.

When we had the Department of Social Protection in here last week, we asked its officials about self-employment. We asked them about supporting people with disabilities into worthwhile employment, employment with career progression and employment not for the sake of box ticking. It is true that the Department has plans to get people into basic employment but when it comes to that ambition, which we all have, it is not there. It really is not. It was clear from the meeting that they have not examined the effects of their policies on people with disabilities. They tick boxes. They have reasonable accommodation grants, etc. We see that lack of ambition across many Departments.

Mr. Hennessy spoke about the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. I remember speaking to him about the Commencement matter that I had in relation to specific supports for people with disabilities in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. There was a lovely speech from the Department but it could have just come in and said "No" because it would have been a lot quicker. The answer basically was "No". Of course, it is all open to everyone. We have equality in the system but we have no equity in the system.

We have spoken about Professor Cooney's course. At this stage, the professor is famous in this committee. Many Departments and other bodies state that we have this and they point to Professor Cooney. Therefore, it is nice to have Professor Cooney here. It is an excellent course, but it is one course. It is in Trinity College. It is not accessible for everybody and not everyone can-----