Mr. Ciar?n Delaney:

I thank the Chair and colleagues. It is good to see old friends. I will first welcome the OWL team. A good friend, Fiona O'Loughlin, who is responsible for the OWL programme and is at the United Nations in New York, as committee members know, contacted me last night to wish me well.

The scenario is I have read the committee's report on public participation. I respectfully ask the committee to go through it again and have a look at the references. There seems to be a concentration on the disabled people's organisations, DPOs, and very little recognition of the rights of individuals. General comment No. 7 on the UNCRPD states individuals should not be excluded. Article 4(4) of the same document, which we deliberately referenced in our presentation, states the State can go further or, in other words, that its actions should be all-encompassing. Credit where credit is due, and I do not say this lightly, the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Rabbitte, is one of the best Ministers for disability we have ever had. She treats individuals with the same weighting as a DPO. I hope to God she stays where she is because we need her. The feeling is she has been brilliant.

If we think about it, the examples of Dáil na nÓg, the Irish Senior Citizens Parliament and the citizens' assembly on climate change represent an opportunity. I cannot for the life of me understand why we do not have something like a comhairle na míchumasach, a council for the disabled. We should replicate that now. The committee may not be aware but we have a commitment, courtesy of the Cathaoirleach of the Seanad, Senator Mark Daly, that there will be a disabled persons' parliament in the Seanad. I have talked to the Cathaoirleach. In addition, Senator Buttimer, who is in Cork, also proposed a motion to the effect that we would have a disabled persons' parliament. We have got together on that. I have also set up an organisation, called the disabled parliament Ireland, to encourage people to go there. One of my colleagues, Ms Evie Nevin, stood as a councillor. It might be something to look at from her perspective, as she is in a wheelchair and is autistic.

On internships, if the Chair does not mind, I will reference a former member of staff in the Houses of the Oireachtas, head usher, Mr. Colm O'Rourke, who was absolutely brilliantly supportive of my time in the Houses. There needs to be a process for internships. We have the OWL programme and our colleagues are here. There needs to be a process whereby Members can bring people like me and others into the House in order that we can enhance their knowledge of people with disabilities and encourage Members going forward.

It is imperative there is quota for disabled election candidates. We have a gender quota. The last time it was 6-4-3 and we won 3-1. According to the 2016 census, we all know that will rise substantially. We are looking at possibly 18%. If we think about it, we have one person with a declared disability, Senator Conway, who is also a very good friend of mine. I ask that those points be taken on board initially.