Dr. Iris Elliott:

I thank the Deputy for her question. It is good to see her again. We believe that the changes indicated in the Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill are very minimalist. It is a long-standing issue that there has been a legal basis for differential pay to disabled people but, as we heard yesterday, Ireland is one of the worst performers in the employment of disabled people in the world and certainly a laggard in Europe. That is a minor issue compared with the more global issues regarding the employment of disabled people. Linked to that is the education of disabled people across their lifespan. We have a developed position. We have the code of practice on reasonable accommodation in employment, which we are waiting for the Minister to publish. We made a submission to the EPSEN review, which we can share with the committee, around the issues of access to education. We have a range of evidence about the lack of availability of decent work. One of our concerns is that a lot of the focus on employment of disabled people is just getting people into work rather than their having access to decent work. That would be a concern. It is a very minor change and we cannot overstate how disappointing it is that that is the only thing we have on the payment of disabled people.