Erin McGreehan (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome our guests. It is lovely to see them all in attendance. I was taken aback by what Mr. Sinnott quoted a departmental official as saying about us having to live in the real world. That official, I am afraid, is not living in the real world and needs to read up on his brief, whoever he was. It is disappointing to hear of that attitude among departmental officials.

I was attending a separate committee meeting, so I apologise if I end up going back over previous questions. We in this committee have such good intentions and really want to do our best. What are our guests' main asks in the context of what we could do very simply? What could we do to push Departments? Do we need to regulate for a process whereby DPOs will have to be included in consultations? Time and again, at meetings of various committees of which I have been a member, this lack of meaningful consultation is a critical stumbling block in regard to so many issues, and the Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) Act is just the most recent example of that, albeit a prime one. One of our guests referred to the electric vehicle legislation and the blanket ban on cars coming into Dublin city centre. These are ableist policies and we are not looking after our citizens.

I fundamentally agree with Mr. Sinnott and previous speakers that we have to fund DPOs. We have been funding disability services and advocacy groups for decades, but we have not funded and supported disabled persons to be their own advocates. I cannot see anybody being a better advocate for disabled persons than disabled people. It is about time we shook that up and made sure we had meaningful change. County Louth launched its first DPO in December and Ms Paula Soraghan attended the committee meeting. She made a powerful contribution in explaining the importance of disabled persons organisations and of being her own advocate. Who among us wants anyone else to speak on our behalf? We should not expect a disabled person to accept that either.

I am a great supporter of the campaign Personal Assistance Service Now. There is something of a grey area in regard to disabled persons being allowed to have a personal assistant, PA, at a political meeting. How do those restrictions impact on disabled persons who might need a personal assistant in taking part in political campaigns or being active within their communities? As we all know, we need more diversity at the political table.

In summary, would allowing personal assistants to attend political meetings help people partake in political activism? What simple and clear asks do our guests have of this committee? Finally, what are their opinions on the clear funding of DPOs and how that will impact on them personally and on the entire sector? I think I know what the answer to the final question will be, but I want to hear it in their words.