Mr. Damien Walshe:

The issue with the DPOs is reflective of the fact that they are a relatively new phenomenon in Ireland. Mr. Kearns mentioned the work he is supporting work in the Border counties. We are also supported by the Department of Rural and Community Development under the new community development programme to support the development of DPOs in Cork, Kerry, Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny through our virtual online inclusive community empowerment, VOICE, programme. These are brand-new initiatives. We now have a situation where disabled people are only beginning to see the potential for DPOs to be a transformative space and the critical voice in trying to begin to build up dialogue. It is often the case that after the fact, disabled people are forced to say that a space is not working for them. We do not want to be in confrontational spaces; we want to move into co-creation. However, as Mr. Kearns highlighted, the shared spaces present a real physical danger to many disabled people. Aesthetically, designers think they look great. If we had real co-creation of policy and a review of existing legislation such as the design manual, we would have disabled people acknowledging that sustainability is a necessity for society. However, we need to look at the sustainable development goals, SDGs, around sustainable, inclusive, safe cities and towns.

We need to look at our commitments under the CRPD and we also need to be a leader in this. If we look at the international literature, what we see in Ireland is reflective of pretty much every other country, namely, that in the absence of disabled people in environmental justice spaces, their voices are not being heard. Decisions have been made that actually exclude disabled people further.

Internationally, we need to think about models of development education that we need to promote within those spaces. Organisations based in Ireland that have an international context need to also think about engaging with DPOs. Senator O'Loughlin mentioned institutionalisation. There have often been instances where Irish charities were inadvertently responsible for institutionalising disabled people. They have funded organisations that have denied disabled people their rights. We have worked with organisations such as Comhlámh and the Christian Blind Mission, CBM, which were very keen to emphasise, from an international perspective on global climate change, the need to internationalise the discussion around the role of DPOs to inform local solutions as well. It is not just about randomly assembling individual disabled people. It is about investing in bringing disabled people together for them to identify what the key issues are and to strategise about what they would like to see informing their local or national spaces. There are trends towards that at a national level. Ms Gilmartin and her team in the SDGs have been proactive in engaging with us and other DPOs. That is welcome because it recognises that DPOs are the authentic voices of disabled people that can and will inform conversations around the SDGs and climate justice.