Laura Harmon (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank all our guests for being here and for their really insightful contributions. What they said paints a stark picture of where we are as a country in terms of the full inclusion of people with disabilities in society and in employment. I am very struck by how far we lag behind our European counterparts in employment rates. I know we are 20% below the European average in the context of employment for people with disabilities, which is completely unacceptable. There was a missed opportunity with the recent budget in the context of not introducing a cost of disability payment.

I attended the launch of the new human rights strategy for disabled people. Several disabled persons' groups have cautiously welcomed that. We really need to see action on it. On employment, there was mention of the broader benefits for employers and colleagues. What would be the big-picture benefits for society as a whole if we were to fully include the 1.1 million with disabilities in our society and in employment? How will that transform society at a big-picture level? Some of our guests mentioned public transport. A great deal of progress needs to be made in that regard. Where should we start? What needs to be done to make sure our public transport service is fully inclusive?