Micheál Carrigy (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for not being here earlier. In the previous term I served as chairperson of the Joint Committee on Autism. I did a lot of work in the area of promoting inclusivity. We developed a project in Leinster House. I felt that if we were going to make people aware everywhere else or ask other organisations or places to make a change, we needed to make those changes here first. We have the highest standards of an autism friendly parliament in the world. Families or school groups can come to do the tour of Leinster House. All the staff, political staff and TDs also undertook an autism friendly training programme. More than 1,000 people took part in that. We are aware of what it is for someone to be in the autistic community.

I have always felt that more changes have been made because more people are aware and understand. That is something that we need to roll out across all Government Departments. We have started here in that area and we need to expand on that across all disabilities, such that we understand and know the changes that need to be made because this is where they can be and are made. That is something we need to do within the political system. When we are talking about participating in political life and the political system, as politicians we need to know and understand.

The project I mentioned was an example of a fantastic project that was done here. People took part in it and we have seen a lot changes coming on the back of that because now people understand. That is something that we should push and work on to make sure it happens here. The model is there. Three other Government Departments and a number of agencies have been involved, as has the GAA. We spoke with the GAA a couple of years ago. The association opened a sensory room in the museum in Croke Park that services the stadium as well and it is working towards accreditation. I am highlighting some of the work that is being done in here but there is more to be done. This is an old building and it is not perfect but hopefully we are on the right track.

Regarding voting, when I was involved in the local authority at home in Longford we were constantly asking the returning officers why they were closing the schools when there was a local community centre available and so on. The straight answer we got back from the returning officers was that they had to make sure that every single voting centre has disability access. I know that is the case in every polling centre in County Longford. The straight answer was that this was their number one priority. That is the right way to be thinking and is the way every returning officer should think. It is essential to make sure that everyone has access.

I believe that every person with a disability who is registered with a disability organisation should have an automatic entitlement to a postal vote. They should not have to get a certificate signed by a doctor. Our guests mentioned a figure of 3,500 out of 20% of the population. There has to be a way of collating that information, making contact with people and asking them if they want to have a postal vote. It should be automatic. They should not need to get a doctor to certify that they have a disability to get a postal vote. That is something that should be taken on board by the Electoral Commission. I suggest it make a recommendation on that. People should not have to pay for that, at a minimum.

We are lucky in that we have a number of people with disabilities who are Members of the Oireachtas, including Senators Conway and Bradley. The latter is a member of this committee. They are fantastic advocates for the disability community. We need to harness their experience-----