Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses and thank them for their opening statements. To start with Pobal, I acknowledge the AIM programme. It does vital work and supports many young children with additional needs in preschool, playschool and before they go to school. It is a model that could be continued to primary and secondary level, instead of relying on a diagnosis for supports. That should be looked at.

How does Pobal consult with DPOs and disabled people on the programmes it delivers? It is important disabled people have an input from the start and that programmes are not designed to meet the needs we think they have, but that we talk to disabled people and recognise that, under the UNCRPD, they or their representative organisations have a right to be part of engagement and consultation from the start.

Ms Shakespeare referenced WorkAbility. Will she expand on that? It sounds like it will be very good.

Accessibility is important and often when we think of accessibility we think of the physical building but it is not always about that. It is also about online resources. Ms Shakespeare mentioned online courses that Pobal delivers. On the EU web accessibility directive, Pobal had an accessibility score of 17.33. How can it improve on that and ensure websites are accessible? Many people with a disability may rely on that. They may have an intellectual disability and need easy read. Visual impairments and other disabilities should all be accommodated.

How do Enterprise Ireland and the LEOs engage with DPOs in the programmes they deliver? I welcome that the LEOs are working to deliver a new online course in conjunction with TUD. That is important. The committee has heard from disabled people that there are many supports for employers to employ a disabled person but the same supports do not exist for disabled people to employ themselves. Their needs are often very different. They may be to do with chronic pain. They may be unable to work full days. They need tailored supports to ensure they can start their own business. That online course will be very good but what if it is oversubscribed? It is for 20 people. Do the witnesses envisage that is enough? It is maybe a recognition that to date the LEOs are not meeting the requirements of disabled people, so it is good to do that.

Ms Shakespeare mentioned the Pobal HP Deprivation Index and that people in disadvantaged areas are twice as likely to have a disability. If that is turned around, people with a disability are twice as likely to be poor. Employment rates for disabled people in this country are shocking, as Ms Shakespeare said, and we know that. We are the worst in Europe. There is a significant cost of disability so many disabled people are poor and struggling. Because of their disability and the lack of supports, they end up living in poverty. It is not that you are more likely because you are poor to have disability, it is the other way around.