Mary Moran (Labour)
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I welcome the representatives of WALK and the Carers Association. I found both of their presentations very interesting, true and up to date. I have a personal connection with WALK peer programme in that I shadowed one of the girls, Emer, who is here today. It was an excellent day and an excellent eye opener to the work that is done to give young people with disabilities an equal opportunity. WALK certainly does what it says on the tin and provides that opportunity.

It was very enlightening to see young people with disabilities, some of whom I had taught in a mainstream school, come to the fore, achieve their full potential and be able to do things which perhaps people would not have expected them to do. I say that as somebody who saw that happen and as a parent. As was said, all these young people want is to have a job and to be able to say they are the same as everybody else. It is fantastic that this is going on. The example in Louth is fantastic and I would love to see it rolled out all over the country. I hope that by raising it at this committee, it will enlighten other people and that we can work together to try to roll it out nationwide.

I concur with Deputy O'Brien's comments on the youth guarantee. It is one thing that has stuck out. When one talks about the opportunities there, we need to look at the youth guarantee because there is a huge gap in terms of the provisions for people with disabilities in the youth guarantee currently. There is a huge need to include and provide training and education opportunities for people with a disability. What do the witnesses see as the gaps and the challenges? How can we, as politicians, help WALK's work to improve it and to bring it to fruition?

Funding was mentioned. Rather than coming from the Department of Health or the Department of Education and Skills, it needs to be cross-departmental. Everybody should be working together. It is not just in this area but in every area of disability. As somebody said, it comes under the remit of the Department of Health but these people are not sick; they need an education. It is like sport and disability in that everything comes under this banner and yet it affects every Department. That is something on which we need to work.

On carers, I agree that the cut to the respite care grant was a very tough blow and is something that all parties would like to see reversed.

On school leavers, it is a terrible dilemma for people when they leave in June or July and do not know where they will be in August. It is a good idea to let people know in advance but I understood that a directive was issued to the effect that all school leavers must be placed or must know before they leave exactly where they will be in September. I was under the impression that this was the case and I ask the witnesses to clarify that.