Ms Catherine Naughton:

I will address the question to the EDF and I thank the Deputy for it. It is a complicated picture in terms of which country is doing best. I will share with the committee that our last human rights report, issued in 2019, was on poverty and social exclusion. What we saw across Europe was a mixed picture. However, really disappointingly for Ireland, the employment rate of persons with disabilities was the lowest in Europe, which has been mentioned. In this human rights report, we compare many different elements of progress in some countries. For example, on disability assessment, Estonia was very good. In terms of government spending, Denmark was the highest. Ireland was close to the lowest there as well, unfortunately. In these obstacles to employment and social inclusion, there is a range of policy areas affected, be they transport, housing, education or personalised support. This requires, therefore, a whole-of-government approach. I am not sure how this has been done in Ireland but it could be something like a disability lead in the Taoiseach’s office or some kind of central co-ordination mechanism that can look horizontally at the elements that will contribute to social inclusion, to tackling poverty and to promoting employment. It is not simply a one-Department issue. I will share the forum's European Human Rights Report 2020 with members in order that they can look at the different elements in more detail. Then, if there are any particular microdata that they want from countries as well, that is something we can also provide to give more nuanced detail.