Mr. Patrick Flanagan:

Behind me on my right here is Bruno, my personal assistant who has worked with me for the past three years. I would not be here talking to the committee today without him. He helped me get up this morning, to get into the van, and drove me here. It was not his fault that we were late but it really was the traffic lights. I forgot my laptop and he ran back outside and was able to get it so I was not here even later. Without Bruno and the team of PAs that I have working with me, I would not have gone to college and might not have gone through secondary school education as easily as I did. I would not have the life I have now, which is a very personal observation. It is the same for anybody else who has a personal assistant service.

There are so many people who do not have the level of assistance and support they need. The average amount of personal assistance per day that a disabled person in Ireland has is 47 minutes. I will not even go in to what people need because it is so unique and different but there is such a small number of people who have the level of support equivalent to what I or some of my peers would have in order to be able to live independently on their terms. It is just not good enough. Without it people cannot live their lives. It is as simple as that. No statistics or testimonies should be needed to justify the increase in spending or the provision of what is needed for people to be able to live their lives because that is a basic human right.