Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the witnesses. A lot of my questions have been asked, but one of would be about how there is no stand-alone DPO for children. The Government's Participation of Children and Young People in Decision-making Action Plan 2024-2028 was published earlier this year. Can the witnesses discuss how this action plan might support the creation of stand-alone children's DPOs?

I know about all the work the witnesses are doing and I want to compliment them. How does their organisation identify and include groups that may be under-represented? That is something that has come to my attention, and I see in my clinics daily. We are very lucky in County Carlow. We have great services like Rehab Group, Delta Centre, BEAM Services and National Learning Network Carlow. We are very lucky. They are excellent. The witnesses are probably aware of them. There are challenges, however. I want to ask about the challenges of going into the workforce and how we could look at something like that. What do we need to do to raise more awareness? Now, while people are very good, and I am not saying they are not because there is great communication, there can sometimes be challenges. How do the witnesses see those challenges?

Families often come to me who may have issues with an invalidity payment or other payments, and there are challenges there. Do the witnesses come across that much? That is something about which I speak to families regularly and I make representations on their behalf. That should not be happening. How do we look at this? How do we fix it? How do we find a solution so that no family is in a position where someone is entitled to a payment and not getting it? There can be challenges around information whereby they are told to go back to their doctor and so forth. That can be disheartening sometimes.

While I am here, I want to congratulate Carlow Special Olympics team. I do not know if people are aware, but they are representing Ireland tomorrow in Barcelona. We are very proud of our Special Olympians in the Carlow football team. They are heading to Barcelona tomorrow, which is great for Carlow and, of course, they are representing Ireland. That is another big thing.