Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael)
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I thank Mr. O'Regan. Many members of this committee also sit on the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Disability Matters. At that committee, we hear about the issue of poverty for people with disabilities in adulthood and the prospect of poverty. We consider the issues of low levels of job attainment and access to the workplace.

We look at the causes of that, which are matters relating to education, reduced hours of education and reduced access. For younger children, the issues relate to their access to services, their care and the supports we hope will come around them to help them live their best lives, which is what we all aspire to. Our language needs to be careful around this. Parents hear us talk about children being let down and, in meetings of other committees, they hear us speak about the prospects of poverty and the lack of access to the workplace that lie ahead. Because their children have a disability, those parents do not consider that they are being let down. They consider the rest of their children's lives and prospects being ruined due to a lack of timely intervention. It behoves all of us to do everything we can to ensure we deliver on the aspiration and passion that all of us, witnesses and members of the committee, have expressed today. I thank everyone for that.