Mr. John Dolan:

In my time here in the Seanad I did not feel that there was any difficulty getting people in. Various committees were quite open to having people in and having modules on different issues. The committees were keen to get to know the people who wanted to appear and to hear about their issues. I feel there is an open door in that sense. I did not get any sense that committees did not want to hear from disabled people and their organisations. We have to work on the basis of inclusivity. If someone comes in here and says their tuppence worth before a committee, that can be a big fillip for them. It may encourage them in the right direction. These issues are all part of the process of encouraging people. They can make a clip of their contribution and others can see it. It is serious stuff for people to have participated in the parliamentary affairs of their country and spoken about their issue and the issue of others. There are many different doors that can be pulled to get people on the road.