Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank our guests from the federation, the Delta Centre and Ability West for their attendance today to give us their honest appraisal of where things are at. It is hugely important from our point of view, as we are preparing a pre-budget submission. One of the issues we have discussed is pay parity and it was important to have the witnesses feed into that. We really appreciate the time our guests have given this afternoon. There are a number of issues to consider, such as pay parity and sustainability of the services. It is being stated that section 39 organisations are private organisations, not State organisations but ultimately, these organisations are providing a service on behalf of the State and we should always be mindful of that and should acknowledge that. In the debates held previously, even prior to the Labour Court, it was said that the section 39 organisations were a whole raft of bodies. But the real kernel of the issue here for section 39 organisations and right across the sector is adequate funding, that is, adequate funding for people with disabilities and the people who are providing services for them. There is a lot of work to do but as I understand it, there is work being done on pay parity. We will keep doing as much as we can to make sure that is brought to the fore. Moreover, as the committee moves towards making our submission, we need to recognise the unmet needs and the challenges being faced by the providers of services for people with disabilities.

I congratulate our witnesses on the work they do on the ground because it is difficult and challenging. It is important that those who work within the sector are acknowledged, from the very top of the organisations and inclusive of everybody within the organisations. Sometimes people who work in the in the disability sector can get very frustrated with the system and there are complaints and so on that they are not acknowledged for the work. Consequently, I congratulate our guests on the work they are doing, as well as all of the teams in their organisations that provide services for what is 20% of our population at this stage.

On that, our meeting will adjourn. If there are other issues that our witnesses think we should be preparing or that we should be looking at prior to our pre-budget submission, they should feel free to send them to us immediately or whenever they feel is right. Our meeting now stands adjourned until 19 June.