Eileen Flynn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for coming before the committee. I have done some work with him over the past few months and credit where credit is due, I believe he tries his best for people. People with disabilities come from all walks of life and how does Traveller accommodation that is not fit for purpose fit into the CAS programme to look after children with disabilities who are from the Traveller community and are under the Traveller accommodation remit? It is unfortunate that we still have segregation of the Traveller community when it comes to accommodation with local authorities. Years ago, Travellers had to go to Thomas Street and Castle Street to get social welfare payments. I remember as a young child going to the Traveller doctor that used to come into the halting site. Nowadays it is still the same with the local authorities and we are looking to change that whereby we can have a Traveller authority for Traveller accommodation.

I know that we have the Minister of State in the Traveller committee and that is a question he can come back to there but it is important to note that with refugees and the Ukrainian community also, there are people with disabilities. How are we looking after everybody? I acknowledge that it is up to each local authority to meet the needs of disabled children and children with additional needs. For me over the past number of months with this committee, what has come to my attention as a mother bringing my children to the park in Ardara is that unfortunately, there are not enough parks in our country that facilitate children who are disabled and children with additional needs such as autism.

In Ardara, County Donegal, there is no swing. A lot of children in that community have autism or other disabilities. The nearest park is in Dungloe, which is more than half an hour's drive away, where children can have access to play. I am very passionate about meeting all communities where they are and that includes children with disabilities. What obstacles are preventing us from dealing with this at a local level or in the local development plans? What is stopping us from providing that every park in the country would have facilities for children with additional needs and disabled children?

I am a member of the Traveller community and I work with members of my community and people who are disabled or have additional needs. It is hard for anybody to get rented accommodation, but if you have a disability or are from a minority group, there is an additional challenge or, as a landlord might see it, an additional problem. What is the Department doing to tackle that? As my colleague Senator McGreehan said, the cost of having a disability in this country is huge. We do not support people with disabilities very much when it comes to the private sector or buying their own home. People with disabilities live shorter lives on average than people without them do, just as members of the Traveller community live shorter lives than people from the general population, and this applies to applying for mortgages as well.

How can we future-proof the system for people who have a disability? The Minister of State has heard some of these points previously, such as those relating to footpaths and wheelie bins. I acknowledge it is the responsibility of the local authority - I get that - but the Minister of State has responsibility for the overall delivery. As I said earlier, I know that his heart is in the right place and that he wants things to be better. We do not know how long the Government is going to last, so let us be honest about the situation. The Minister of State has an opportunity to work with us as a committee to make better changes for people children with disabilities, including children. I really believe that, as a committee and with the Department, we can genuinely do that. Obviously, we need the money, given we could sit here all day and have great suggestions but it has to be invested at a local level. In the case of the local development Bill that is currently before the Houses, it is critical that we include amendments that mention people with disabilities at a local level in the context of parks and accommodation and also mention members of the Traveller community.

Some people around this table may not understand the level of bigotry and hatred that people with disabilities experience in this country. Even today, people with disabilities are seen as a problem, just as Travellers are seen as a problem, and we need to deal with that when it comes to accommodation. I do not want to go over my permitted time, but I would very much appreciate hearing the Minister of State's comments or suggestions in respect of what he is doing. I look forward to him appearing before the Traveller issues committee in the coming weeks and I hope that, before the Government is dissolved, we will have something in place that will improve the lives of people with disabilities in the context of accommodation.