Mr. Peter Kearns:

It is good to see Senator McGreehan. The danger is that we fall back into a medical model in responding to people who are disabled. That would be prohibitive, including for family members. I know the intention is to do good but sometimes that goes against the will and preference of disabled people.

The issue with will and preference is that it is not something that can be gifted. I spent 20 years in a residential home and today I finally have a nice council house in County Sligo. Sligo County Council has done some great work. I have a personal assistance, PA, service for three or four hours per day. I have the confidence and capacity to use that. That is a chance to be sociable; it is important to recognise that. It is not just about giving people will and preference and saying, "There you go." It is about capacity-building. I have a really good relationship with the community development sector such as the community centres in Sligo. That is where capacity-building happens. We can take people away from family members and disability centres. It is a long process but it does actually work.

I know I keep beating the same drum but DPOs have experience of doing that. It is not a blank canvas. We have experience of working with disabled people. I manage a gym where I have worked with more than 600 disabled adults in the last two years. We have shown that through very simple training programmes and IT programmes with the local DPOs, disabled people can appreciate the capacity-building relationship with will and preference. It is not something that happens overnight but it is doable.