Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On Thursday last week, I began to implement a commitment, on which I will follow through every Thursday, to speak about the issues raised in the Joint Committee on Disability Matters in this House because it is an excellent forum for us to challenge some of our thinking around what I termed last week "ableist privilege", a phrase used by one of the witnesses. This morning, the committee heard from various wheelchair users, including a fantastic woman, Ms Karen Smith, from Changing Places Ireland, and Ms Bernadette Egan, who is an architect. I want to read a small piece of what Ms Egan had to say about what happens when she goes out and about on a daily basis. She said she faces difficulties most people take for granted, and went on to say:

Will the entrance door be too heavy and awkward to open or is there an out-of-order platform lift? Will I need to search for a key for the "accessible" toilet? Will it be too small for my motorised wheelchair, and will I need to jostle the bins or get hit over the head by a loose drop-down rail? If there is a fire, will I wait for someone to find me and try to slide me on a deckchair down a steep staircase? These are just a small sample of the questions about the accessibility of the built environment I try to answer before leaving home as I attempt to map out my day mentally.

People with disabilities who live among us have lived experiences that we do not see. We have a list of things, such accessibility to buildings, lifts and toilets, and we think that is enough. That is not enough for a truly inclusive and equal society. Everybody has to be able to do ordinary things every day, such as go to a café or supermarket and meet friends without facing a plethora of worries that have to be negotiated before even having to deal with the incumbrance of his or her disability. This House is the place to get that conversation started, and I ask that we facilitate a debate on that.