Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

To be honest, there is no Department that does not have an open door to me and no Department that does not have a good listening ear. I often describe it as follows, however. When you go to your GP, do you want pillow talk or do you want to be cured? I would like the Departments to provide cures and to work with me. A listening ear is great, and empathy and understanding are fantastic, but where can I change this? It is money and an understanding I need. If members take anything away from what I am saying, it is that I believe Ministers open their doors, and they are fantastic, but I need everybody to understand universal design within their Departments and the awareness of it. Things cannot be done in a silo of misunderstanding. I did not understand what universal design was when I became Minister of State with responsibility for disabilities. I never knew what it was. It was Deputy Neasa Hourigan who explained to me what universal design was and the different levels of it. I am put to task with the responsibility for it. While all Departments have disability within their remit, whether it be transport, local government or public expenditure - and I will comment on public expenditure in a minute - they all need to know how it has to operate, and it has to work for persons with a disability in their environment. I do not think that level of understanding is there to the level it should be. Empathy is great, but I cannot change this. Around this time every year, I write to every Department and ask it to ensure that it disability-proofs its budget. At least by doing that I am drawing attention to the matter. I have done that since I became Minister of State. Mr. Noel Byrne writes the same letter every year. Not every Minister responds to it; a few do. I am sure that after today's session I will get a great response, but it is a matter of that understanding.

As regards public expenditure, and I say the following to anybody who does sums. It is people I deal with, not numbers. They have names and they have dependants. When I negotiate or talk about budgets, I am talking about people. They are not numbers. I will leave it at that.