Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There are 643,131 people with a disability in Ireland, which is 13.5% of the population. In his work Senator Dolan has discovered that people with disabilities are more than twice as likely to report discrimination in relation to housing. They are 1.6 times more likely to live in poor conditions, such as living in damp housing with a lack of central heating, or to live in areas with neighbourhood problems. While people with disabilities represent 13.5% of the population they make up 27% of the homeless population. Currently, when families are classed as homeless, they do not get additional priority if a child has a disability. We must examine that to make the system more inclusive.

Every Senator should get the report and fact sheet provided by Senator Dolan. I am sure they will, as will local authorities. Senator Dolan also mentioned carers. We are not getting carers into the system quickly enough. From my clinic I am aware of a backlog of six to eight months of people who have applied for a carer or carer's allowance. That is not acceptable. Senator Dolan is doing the Government's job. He is doing a great job. He highlights facts of which we were unaware. I say well done to him. It is great that he is going to local authorities-----