Ms Anne Winslow:

Mr. Lee touched on a lot of the topics. I have been working in the disability sector for 30 years, either volunteering or where family members have a disability, and we get movement when disability becomes a political issue, is taken seriously by the Taoiseach and the Cabinet and is given priority. In recent years, disability has not been seen as an issue by our politicians. I cannot overstate how significant this is. Many people in Ireland live with a disability and their families are impacted. A huge percentage of the population is impacted by disability in one way or another. Until it is taken seriously again as a political issue by the Taoiseach, in particular, by the Department of the Taoiseach, and by the Ministers in Cabinet, we will not have serious movement towards meeting the needs of people. There is an obvious legislative requirement and each Department is accountable for delivering outcomes that clearly make a difference to people's lives, whether they be jobs, education or supports, and for ensuring there is interconnectedness between those. Good strategies are being developed that might need more specifics. We have good legislation and the convention but we lack the political will. I cannot overemphasise how important we see this committee's role in influencing that and, through the means available to it, putting it to the Cabinet and the Taoiseach that we need an approach that cuts across Departments. We need the political will to take it on. There are many organisations and people who can help in aspects of implementation at statutory, voluntary and not-for-profit levels. We need that political will if we are going to make a real difference. Until we do that, we are wasting our resources, not using them efficiently and not having good outcomes for people, which is the most important thing. There are countless stories we could tell about people we know who have made representations and come to us, and we have to put our finger in the hole to plug the water coming out, as it were. We live in the community. People with disabilities want to live in the community and need supports to do that. We want to live in the community.

To answer Senator Dolan's question, people are going into nursing homes, largely not by choice although sometimes it is, and living with elderly people in inappropriate settings because often a package to suit their needs has not been put together, even though that would be very cost-effective.

Is the Department of Health maintaining the problem? I think the answer is yes, because that Department is not demanding that it be a cross-cutting issue, either within its own work or between other Departments, nor is it looking for measurable outcomes that could make a difference. All that links back to our policies and quality of life principles and so on. They all link back. There are so many different policy documents we are looking to fulfil, so let us unlock the problem. Let us get the political will. What would it take for it to be taken seriously?