Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael)
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I thank the witnesses for their contributions. People around the country readily identify with the health journey that our much-loved character, Charlie Bird, is on at the moment and they appreciate the role that assistive technology is playing in that journey. They see that even though his illness has denied him his voice, assistive technology has restored his voice and his ability to communicate. That is a very relatable example that people can identify with. All of us probably have family members with hearing aids and hearing supports, particularly as they get older. I have a family member who I can communicate with since she got an iPad. We communicate through messaging in a way that we could not necessarily have done before now. Due to her disability, we did not have the same level of communication when we simply sat down together. Assistive technology plays a vital role in removing isolation and removing the experience of being socially isolated for people with impairments and disabilities.

Professor MacLachlan spoke about professionals being gatekeepers. I would like to explore that, particularly in the context, of which we are aware, of the crisis in support for children due to the under-recruitment of speech and language therapists, especially within the community disability teams. What can we do to improve that recruitment? If anybody has any ideas on that, I would be delighted to hear them. If there is a gatekeeper role and we have a shortage of vital professionals, how do we overcome that readily? That is very important to explore.