Dr. Rosaleen McDonagh:

I will start and then I will hand over to my colleagues. Covid has sadly ensured that all best practice, best policy and our general infrastructure has really slowed and sometimes regressed back. For people with autism and with other impairments, our lives and the infrastructure in which we live our lives, have not kicked back into place. I will give one example of a basic need. I am a Traveller and I move around for work. For the life of me, I cannot find an accessible disabled toilet that is in good working order that is not used as a storeroom or that is not designed or purposely made. That is just a tiny inconvenience to all of our lives but then one can add on other realities. The services are using Covid as a way of not doing these things and are not progressing, fulfilling or honouring their commitments to disabled lives.