Ms Catherine Gallagher:

Before I answer the Deputy's questions, which I made a note of because they are all relevant and pertinent, I just want to thank the committee. I appreciate being facilitated today. Unfortunately, my work commitments changed at the last minute. I am teaching this semester for the first time and the joys of university timetabling were out of my hands, and my teaching schedule and my roster changed at the last minute. Unfortunately, that is why I have to leave at 11:45 a.m. to make my next class. I am racing around the campus today but this is what we have to do.

I am still in college. I am a PhD student in DCU. I did my undergraduate degree in DCU in journalism. I then did my master's in political communication in DCU and now I am in the middle of my PhD. I am a full-time PhD student in the school of communications and I am researching the media response to Covid-19 in Ireland, which is keeping me very busy.

That said, I do recognise my privilege in that I am educated and I have been supported by different factions and people in my life to be able to get to this stage but I have done all the hard graft myself. I am pretty confident in saying that. Bearing in mind people might not be aware of where I am from, I am from Achill island in County Mayo so I am from the most westerly point, pretty much and I moved across country to Dublin. I am based not too far away from the Deputy and I might bump into him one of the days. I am living on the campus as well. That is my setup.

Gettinging to college, even though I have gone through the stages and worked my way up a little bit, from an education point of view, I still think the leaving certificate was probably one of the toughest years for me. The pressure of that year was enormous. That transition is nearly something one could have another committee meeting for. The transition periods of life, leaving the family home or leaving secondary school or leaving primary school, can be incredibly stressful for people, as they were for me.

One of the most difficult things for me coming to college was securing my personal assistant, PA, hours. These were for my college time, helping me through the logistics of the college day. Within the university, I did not face much resistance to getting that support. However, getting the out-of-hours support from the HSE and private service providers and getting those hours approved by my local health board in Mayo was an ordeal. That is how it often works - your hours get approved in the county that you are from and then you hope to get them transferred to the county where you are studying or or where you are going to move to. Getting those PA hours helps with the personal care elements of the day such as cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping and ironing. These are all things that I need help with and this is how I live independently. There is a misconception that living independently means that one can do everything oneself. The independent living concept or belief system means you have choice and autonomy over your life. It that means that you have a bit of assistance or some PA hours but that is still living independently. You are still living independently of your family. There is a bit of a misconception about that. Securing more PA hours was probably one of the most stressful things in my earlier years in higher education. I was originally only granted 11 hours by the HSE and even at that, I was told that I was very lucky to get that. I remember the day we were told that, my mum and I were in a car park somewhere in Mayo. These hours were the only way I was going to be able to leave Mayo, and I had my sights set on this course for a long time. I originally wanted to be the other kind of a doctor, not a doctor of philosophy. I initially wanted to be a medical doctor for a long time. I wanted to work in orthopaedics first but came to the realisation that, unfortunately, that was not going to suit my lifestyle is how I would put it. Journalism was the next choice and I recall when we were told about how lucky we were to get those 11 hours that I broke down crying in the car in the car park. Was this what my life was reduced to that I am being made out to be kicking up a fuss when I am simply trying to live with a bit of dignity? This is still the case today, unfortunately. This is reality. The logistics of higher education for people with disabilities is something I focus a lot of my time on when I talk in spaces like this.

My time was mostly positive but there were challenges, particularly when I went into postgraduate education. For levels 9 and 10 for PhD, there are statistically not many disabled P Ed postgraduate students in Ireland. This is something I could talk all day about but, unfortunately, we do not have the time. However, the committee should keep an eye out for a group called the national disabled postgraduate advisory committee, NDPAC, which is a bit of a mouthful.

We have met with the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Harris a couple of times. We are a group of disabled postgraduate students or disabled academics who have finished their PhDs and we are focusing much of our personal time on this. A conference is coming up towards the end of February. I am more than happy to email the details to anyone interested. It is a free online conference. It will be a couple hours on 23 February. It is involve NDPAC, the Higher Education Authority, HEA, and the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. There are not many of us in particular on the postgraduate side of it and there are not many disabled academic staff. This means that we are losing thousands of rich research items, theses and contributions because of the barriers. I wish I could elaborate more on that, but I am more than happy to speak to anyone following the meeting. I am more than happy to elaborate further subsequent to this.

The issue of transport is pertinent. I am not a wheelchair user but I have limited mobility. One of the things I am noticing about buses, which has been in the news, is they are not turning up. Someone in my position plans their night out, meetings or wherever they are going to around when they are expecting a bus. It takes me a little bit longer to walk up to the top of the Ballymun Road to get my bus into town or Drumcondra or wherever I am going. It is often the case that the buses are not turning up. I usually allow myself ample time but where I might expect to stand for perhaps five or ten minutes, sometimes I am standing for 20 minutes or half an hour. This is particularly an issue where there is no place to perch and you are standing on your feet. This has been an issue and I am not the first one to raise it.

There is an issue of not enough wheelchair accessible space as well. Unfortunately, you can come across uncomfortable – "confrontation" is perhaps too strong of a word – exchanges with people who have buggies and prams. If the bus is particularly full, I cannot go up the stairs. I have never been upstairs on a Dublin bus. It is just not something I will ever do. Sometimes I use the accessible chair that faces towards the back of the bus. My impairment is not visible to some people whereas it is to others. It depends on how observant they are. We know in our daily lives that people are focused on what is in front of them, which is usually a screen. Since I was very young, my dad has told me to always avoid rush hour and that is what I have to do. I do not go on the bus at rush hour. I do not know where that will end up when I eventually, hopefully, get to a stage where I am working full time and have to commute. At the minute, I am living very close to my research spaces so I do not have to commute every day. However, that is an issue.

I was in London for the first time in August. I did not go near the underground but I used the buses. I found even that the buses were easier to get on and off. They were closer to the pavement and easier to step onto. In addition, they were much more frequent. Buses ran every two or three minutes in and around Liverpool Street. It was amazing. The connectivity there, even just for buses, was super. The taxi service was as well.

Transport and housing are two issues for disabled people in a position to emigrate. Transport is nearly up there on par with quality of life and housing because it can make and break your day. In the UK - I could be wrong, but I do not think I am – there is a rebate system for taxi receipts for disabled people. I used to have a reputation years ago among my friends for being fond of the taxi apps because I found getting around Dublin stressful. I have become more confident with using the buses but it is difficult when there are ghost buses and a bus will not turn up. For the past couple of weeks, I have arrived a half an hour earlier than I needed to. I took an earlier bus because I was afraid that the one I was expecting would not come. I am losing time waiting.

With regard to taxis, it has been incredibly challenging coming home on a night out, like anyone else, on a Friday or Saturday night. It means that I am cutting my nights short when perhaps I would like to be out until the wee hours. I am cutting my night short to try to get the last bus home. That is impacting on my social life. I am hoping that the last bus turns up. It is all connected.

With regard to people with mobility aids or wheelchair users. Even though accessible vehicles are always driving around, trying to get a taxi driver to actually take you can be a challenge. Sometimes, taxi drivers start the meter when you are kind of disassembling a chair or getting into the vehicle or whatever it is even though the vehicle has not left. It might take a wheelchair user-----