Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 22 October 2025

Committee on Disability Matters

Participation in Community Life for Persons with Disabilities: Discussion

2:00 am

Mr. Kevin O'Brien:

No. The Deputy is out there cycling. It is important that inclusion is there for everyone. It is a getaway. People can get away from the day's strains, the pressures parents are under and everything else. The disability cycling hub we are planning to put in in Clondalkin is not just for people with disabilities. This goes back to the Deputy's question about how they can be included and brought together with able-bodied children and adults. It is an opportunity to cycle. We have put a lot of work into this special hub, which we are going to roll out across the rest of the country. It is bringing people with additional needs and mobility issues together. They can integrate and have fun. That is what this is about. It is freedom. It is fun. It should be exciting. It should not be a chore. That is what we push for at Variety. To go back to the partnership with Dublin GAA, as I said, it is about inclusion and coming up with these ideas. People who were in wheelchairs were there. They cannot actively play sport, but we had stuff for them there, along with people who were kicking or throwing balls. That was about them integrating. It was also a good time for parents to come together to talk and discuss. It is a breathing space for these people.

We are only a small charity. We have not got the answers to everything else. We are very small and compact in what we do. We are good in what we do because we look at things. We partner with different organisations. The Government has been very good to us, particularly the Ministers, Deputies Foley and O'Brien, and the Ministers of State, Deputies Hildegarde Naughton and Seán Canney. The Ministers and the HSE especially listen to what we come up with. We like to put programmes together that are scientifically driven. We work with the Royal College of Surgeons. When we do come back and put programmes together, we can say is that value for money. For example, our recycle mobility programme report is due out next month.