Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank all of the witnesses for their evidence. The committee has had a long week and the members have put in an awful lot of work, for which I am deeply grateful. I am honoured to chair the group because it is very dedicated. The State ratified the UNCRPD six years ago in 2018. Not all units of the State have grasped what this means and this is clearly evident. It is evident again today. We ratified the convention and we speak about ratifying the optional protocol. The State and State funding and institutions have a long way to go. If we are going to be fully inclusive, each arm of the State must be involved.

Enterprise Ireland is very successful in terms of how it promotes work. We need to be able to ensure there is a cohort of people that can get employment through its funding. It needs to be extremely well thought out as to how we will travel this road to make sure funding goes through. Some of our members constantly speak about joined-up thinking and it is not there. Earlier in the meeting we identified how successful AIM is.

Parents or people have also appeared here to tell us how difficult it is at primary and post-primary level so we should look at what is successful and roll that out.

Is it possible for our guests to share the data on how successful AIM has been with the Department of Education and show that there is a template?

Enterprise Ireland has worked with the Oireachtas work learn, OWL, programme. Enterprise Ireland does not work with any of the section 39 organisations. Can Enterprise Ireland provide funding for employment opportunities or provide extra employment to people with a disability who can work?

Those are my two questions but I could keep the witnesses here for an hour discussing a myriad of issues that I have written on a note. We would love to see the success of the AIM programme being shared with other Departments to ensure that model is carried on. Members of the committee attended the graduation ceremony for the OWL programme last year. Has anything been done to ensure opportunities for people with disabilities are funded within sections 38 and 39 organisations that are service providers?