Lynn Ruane (Independent)

Exactly. I wonder about affordability when we get to the stage where there are AI-powered tools that are beneficial and we are going to use them. Obviously, there are already wealth, educational, literacy and digital literacy gaps in Ireland. People who live with a disability are more likely to experience poverty. Then we have people who are extremely impoverished in many different ways in their lives and who will not be able to access, or have the financial ability to access, AI-powered tools. For example, there are AI-powered dyslexia pens. Currently, we cannot get them into prisons because when they come up on the scanner machine, the authorities say they look like a weapon. A whole population that falls under the DPO structures and whose members are in certain congregated settings has its rights restricted. Not only will they not be able to afford access to AI-powered tools that they need, but they will be further disenfranchised. What role can the DPOs play in ensuring that equity, fairness and advocacy are extended to those furthest on the fringes, who have a disability and are going to be more heavily impacted because they may have little agency or voice to be able to engage in the conversation?