Mr. Michael Meere:

I have a few things to say. First, on the disability passport, I can empathise with and relate to the Senator’s son’s experience on this. I have got letters from my consultant, printed them off and put them in the front pocket of my bag to solve the following kind of problem.

I went to the train station in Limerick one day. I needed to use the toilet because I have urinary urgency. I asked the security guard if I could use the toilet. He looked me up and down and said "No". I asked why I could not use the toilet and he said it was because I do not have a disability. I had to take out my letters from the consultant and show them to him. He questioned me on their validity. He did let me use the toilet and when I was in there, I felt the door handle rattle. I came back out and was walking away and whatever is inside me from having a disability, my mind would not let me walk away. I went back to him and very politely and respectfully told him that while I appreciated what he was doing, he had to take into account that you cannot always see a disability. I told him that just because I did not have a wheelchair with me or just because I did not have my crutch with me on the day did not mean that I did not have a disability. When I explained it to him in a respectful way, he actually fully understood, which leads me to my next point.

It is about bringing about public awareness. I find most people, once they are made aware that I have or somebody has a disability, they will accommodate it. They will facilitate it and they will even go over and beyond. If they are not aware, they think you are up to something wrong or are trying to cod them or whatever. Bringing about public awareness is very important. We also need to look at the Scottish healthcare model where they state it is societal barriers that make people disabled, not their disability or their illness. It is the barriers that are placed on them without people even being aware of it. People are placing barriers in front of people with disabilities. They are not doing it intentionally; they are just not aware so they cannot accommodate disabilities when they are not aware of them.

My third point was around the legal framework that was mentioned. When one is hiring a person with a disability, a simple thing like an ergonomics assessment in the workplace should be mandatory across the board. It should not even be questioned. Once someone is hiring someone with a disability, the employer should be made aware also and brought in and empowered in this. There should be liaison between the Department with responsibility for social welfare, the employer, and of course the person with the disability.

Finally, Senator Clonan spoke about quotas, which we discussed this previously. I have various friends who have disabilities but they work in the Department of Social Protection and in Revenue. They tell me they have friends working there who also have disabilities, which I am delighted to hear and am really grateful for. I know the percentage is quite small and we are building on that. I am no expert on this but in the private sector, perhaps there should be something like a social clause whereby each private company has to hire a certain percentage of people with disabilities. People with disabilities really want to work and in my own experience, they go over and beyond their capacity when they do attain a job because they are trying to prove to everyone that they are as good as everyone else. If a clause was put in across the board that everyone had to have a percentage, it would be really beneficial to be honest.