Ms Sarah O'Toole:

I will talk about emergencies and disasters. A Sendai framework was developed at a conference on disability, inclusive development, disaster and risk reduction. On that occasion, we advocated for people with disabilities to be included in the framework. I am delighted that a specific reference to people with disabilities has been included in all emergency response programmes. Hopefully, that will merge together with the sustainable development goals, thus ensuring we have inclusion throughout for sustainable development and in emergency situations.

The Philippines were mentioned. Last year we were delighted to host a disabled persons' organisation that we partnered with when the typhoon hit. It was a partner we had worked with for a number of years. Importantly, in terms of our response, it knew where the people with disabilities were and was able to access them. That was crucial in saving many lives. It responded quite actively during that disaster by getting emergency supplies to people with disabilities, whether it was simply their medication or blankets or getting them out of the situation in which they found themselves. For us, it is not just about us delivering services to people with disabilities; it is about the participation of those groups. We support a number of disabled persons' organisations around the world, as does Irish Aid. We think that is an important part of true inclusive development. We are at a point in time where we have a real opportunity for true inclusion. As Mr. Lars Bosselmann said, we should not wait for ratification and decisions on indicators. Ireland has a very significant overseas development aid programme and has made significant commitments to people with disabilities. We are at a point now where we must start to measure performance and we urge the committee to build that into its annual review in terms of Ireland's commitments. There are frameworks that Ireland can use and now is the time to do it so that nobody is forgotten.