Mr. Ger Deering:

A lesser known function of my office is that we have a role, under disability legislation, to deal with complaints about access to public buildings. It has surprised me that we do not get that many complaints. Maybe between all of us we need to make people more aware of their right to complain to my office. It is not just physical access. We would look at access to public services and public buildings as part of that. Does the body have an actual access officer, which they are required to do? Is the access official available and accessible? Also, are there barriers for people with disabilities?

One message that I would be happy to convey is that my office can deal with those sort of complaints. As I say, I am slightly surprised that we do not get more complaints in that space than we do. They are increasing but from a low base.