Mr. Desmond Kenny:

We probably should have reminded or assisted Dr. Carroll and the ESRI team to look at how the cluster of centres for independent living existed around the country. There is one in Galway and 27 in total. ILM is trying to create more. Where they existed, those hours exist in some quantity because of agitation, political support and, variously, the means of agitating for 30 years in localities. That is how one gets, if you like, an unevenness of spread. It is due to the veracity and tenacity of the cases made at those levels in a local CHO or community care area generally in the past. That is probably what allows for the creation of dissimilarity between areas A and B. Again, in the past, that was won through the agitation of, say, people such as Deputy Canney and others who came in behind it and worked at it.

We are back to those days again where we need a collective of allies and individuals to create a new future. I have sat around tables, though not like this one because this is a more eminent body, for many decades now. We have been listened to and gradually included in contributions. However, it goes back to another report, another stage of verification, another collective and another purpose.

The aggregate of actual improvements is minuscule. The only right I have is to the blind person's tax-free allowance, which I got back in 1963. I have no other rights. It is the same with other people out there; they do not have any rights. We have concessions. A big problem is that we are either in a concept of family care or organisational care. The organisational care has emerged and blossomed out of charity care when the nuns, brothers and priests moved on and the charities had to take over in a non-religious context. However, we are still in care. It is a huge industry of minders who keep us not deliberately subject to their care, but speak on our behalf. Others turn to them and say they can do this for Shelly, Des or whatnot who do not need to do it for themselves. They are provided a bus rather than giving them five hours of driver time and if they can afford a car, their PA can drive them. It is back to that. It is trying to dismantle care and reassemble it as rights. I think that is what this committee is about.