Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses. I read the statements with interest and I thank the witnesses for taking the time today to come online. It is very important. I have a number of questions that I want to ask. In the 2016 census more than 209,000 women with disabilities stated they had children and 63% of disabled women are mothers compared with 46.9% of non-disabled women. As the committee has heard, there is a lack of support in the national maternity strategy and linkage between maternity community services and disability service providers. I ask the witnesses to discuss this a bit further.

Will the witnesses discuss the impact of the under-reporting of data in Ireland on reproductive rights? Will they also discuss the policy response in Ireland on Article 23, particularly the national disability inclusion strategy?