Keira Keogh (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I attended the launch of the strategy last week. It was the most gorgeous event, surrounded by people from all sectors of society but most importantly the disabled voices in the room. While it was a beautiful event, the strategy itself felt different. We hear time and again from disabled people. They tell us there should be "nothing about us, without us". That is what makes this strategy feel different, because it is woven with the voices of disabled people who are at its foundation, with hundreds of contributions from disabled people, their families and carers shaping it. I also felt at the event that the disabled voices there were very excited about the strategy, in the songs they sang and the speeches they gave, but also in the conversations over coffee we had at the beginning. It is really important that we carry that with us, and ensure that these disabled voices and the voices of their carers and families are with us every step of the way as we deliver the strategy. There was a really clear visual demonstration at the event of the whole-of-government approach we keep hearing about. Several Ministers were present at the launch. I hope their presence marks the step change we have been promised. It shows the political will is there to deliver the strategy in collaboration across Departments. As we know, disability does not fit neatly into any one Department.

In my office we use a traffic light system for representations - red if we have not been able to deliver, orange if something is still in process, and green if we have been successful in helping somebody navigate the system. I think of the primary medical certificate and a young girl who needs an altered car to get to work, to an appointment or to go and see her friends. We know a legislative change is needed to take the primary medical certificate out of the Department of Finance. She is still waiting and that representation is still orange. I think of respite and a young boy who has graduated from early intervention and is now with one of the section 39 organisations, which does not have the capacity to give him the same respite he was getting. His representation is still orange and his mother has put a surgery on hold because she does not have the respite she needs to recover. I think of school places. I have been engaged with really frustrated parents and principals who technically had a school place but in reality some were still at home. Another boy was in a school but did not have the right resources. Today finally, the last one has turned green, even though there are still some physical and human resources needed. We have to keep moving towards green, translating the commitments we have made across classrooms, workplaces, hospitals, housing and transport systems into real, tangible improvements in daily life. Disabled children must be able to go to school with their siblings and neighbours and must be given all the support they need to achieve their potential and ambition. Disabled young adults must be able to live in a home of their own with individualised supports that they need, not in nursing homes away from their communities. Disabled people must be able to move through our transportation system, our streets, our public and commercial spaces with the same freedom as everybody else. We can do this by keeping universal design at the forefront of everything we do. I am a really proud member of the disability matters committee and I will be responsible to hold this Government to account on delivering the strategy. We all need to remember the theme, which is equal voices, equal actions and equal futures. This is the theme of the strategy as chosen by the disabled voices and it must be the measure of all of us in this Chamber.

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