Ms Fiona Weldon:

I will go first. Ms Kenny will also have a lot to say about this. One of the main things I believe is wrong is that disability organisations are industries and are seriously letting disabled people down. There is no accountability.

I agree on the issue of care. Disabled people do not need care; we want and need support, and we need it in the form of a personal assistant service. The other point is that we have this notion of being independent and being as able as we can to pass as normal. Our society says that unless we look like or look more like a normal person, we are not accepted and need to be fixed or cured.

Another point concerns independent living, a concept born out of the disabled people’s movement. It is very much about inclusion, supporting, nurturing and the co-creation of our involvement in everything that affects our lives. Here today, we are still talking about disabled people and how to come up with a solution. The solution is equipping and funding DPOs locally and nationally and asking disabled people for our views because we are the best experts on their lives. We do not realise that, but they are a power. They can really effect change, but only if they are listened to.