Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)

It was not until I got into politics that I saw the importance of people advocating for people. People with mental health issues, who are among the most vulnerable of all, must have people to advocate for them. I come from a working-class area. Even though I only had two sisters, I had a big extended family and there was always someone there to provide support. Then, when I got into politics I realised that a lot of people have no one and are very isolated. Whether it is in relation to housing, disabilities, childcare or whatever else, a lot of people are on their own. That is why advocacy is such an important right that people should have access to. The witnesses spoke of how we should be person-centred and that people should be at the heart of things. We certainly need a strategy. We are talking about €1 million, which, in the scheme of things, is tiny money when it comes to people's rights and liberty. I support the work being done by the National Advocacy Service, including the other work it does on disabilities. This is an important part of today's discussion.

Last night in the Dáil, we discussed a motion on the cost of disabilities. A report from 2020 or 2021 showed that disabled people incur additional unseen costs of between €10,000 and €12,000 per year compared to able-bodied people. Disabled people need people to advocate for them because many of them are living below the poverty line. What are the other areas in which the NAS works with disabled people to try to advocate for them?