Mr. David Young:

I thank Mairead and Tracey for their tremendous organisational skills. I also thank the members of the committee.

Over the weekend, I watched a number of videos of the committee's previous meetings. I was struck by the sincerity of the representatives. I would temper that, though, by saying that many of the matters we are discussing need to be resolved. There have been promises made by elected representatives for many decades to resolve them. While I do not doubt the sincerity, what counts when it comes to the human rights of disabled people is not sympathy or words; it is concrete action.

The first thing I got from the morning session was a reinforcement of the understanding that disabled people are not a monolith. I am an amputee. I was born with a congenital birth deformity of the left leg that led to an above-knee amputation when I was 17. As members may have guessed, I did not grow up in Ireland. Interestingly, however, I received my Irish passport this morning. I am very proud to be a citizen of a republic and not the UK.

My experience as a disabled person has been very positive for two reasons, and they are two reasons that speak to the work of this committee. I had parents who advocated for me and I was born at a time, post 1945, when the welfare state was in its full pomp. Ireland is the only country in the European Union that does not guarantee provision of prosthetics for amputees. That is shameful. I did not have to deal with that growing up. When I speak to people in this country and tell them that, they are disbelieving.

As it currently stands, anyone with a lower or upper limb amputation is offered their first prosthetic free, as it is State-funded. After that, people are fed into a system that has to be seen or experienced to be believed. People can either apply for a medical card which is means tested and can be - and often is - withdrawn from amputees or they can self-fund. If people are lucky enough to have the money to pay for private health insurance, VHI will make a contribution. Among insurers, VHI is unique in this regard and should be applauded.

The alternative, as has been the case with prosthetics and orthotics, is that people can resort to crowd-funding. We have people in this country whose prosthetics and orthotics - the basic devices they need to function and take a full part in society - have been obtained through crowd-funding. It is absolutely shameful.

I was born with a congenital birth deformity but I had someone who could advocate for me and I also had access to prosthetics. Attitudes in the UK were not great at that time either. It was suggested to my parents that I attend a school for people with severe learning disabilities and special needs. My parents were very much in favour, as I am, of full integration of children with all disabilities into the wider education system. This is not only because it benefits those children but because it benefits the wider community as well.

Because of all those things, I was able to go on to university at Oxford, where I studied economics and politics. I went on to do my master's degree at Columbia University in New York.

My main suggestion is that means testing be withdrawn for people with permanent disabilities. We have to do that. Doing so might involve creating a slightly different medical card. Many amputees have told me that they do not necessarily need all a medical card provides but they do need access to prosthetics or a wheelchair. Means testing must stop. As an absolute minimum, the HSE should stop asking amputees or those with spinal injuries if there has been any change in their condition. When a person's leg is amputated, their condition does not change. If it does, believe you me, we will see it on RTÉ.

There has been a lot of discussion about intersectionality. Thankfully, I have a 23-year-old daughter, so she can explain things like intersectionality to me and keep me up to speed. The most crucial part of intersectionality when it comes to dealing with social welfare and the HSE is social class. If people do not have the money or the cultural capital - as I, fortunately, have had because I have had a lot of opportunities - they are on a hiding to nothing. Of course we want to think about our LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters and about people who have come here from other countries. However, we need a system set up so that people do not have to go out to bat against what is frequently an antagonistic and oppositional HSE in order to function on a day-to-day basis.