Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator. In my concluding statement, I can say my own few words. The opening statement was a combination from two Departments, trying to get to the basis of it. Quite rightly, much work is going on but that has not really been rolled out on the ground because from what I heard in Senator Carrigy's introductory remarks was that parents say that when they encounter an issue, they do not understand it, or there is no mechanism there to support that communication piece.

The Senator is right in what he says regarding the augmentative and alternative communicationpiece. I genuinely believe that piece of technology needs to be embedded in society. I genuinely believe when it is identified through speech and language therapy in the early years, that assistive technology needs to be made available to young people so it becomes the norm and is not talked about and that everybody knows how it works and the voice of the child, while it might not come straight from their lips, comes through the piece of assistive technology. That is why that I placed an order worth €1 million to purchase 1,000 units of augmentative and alternative communication, AAC, last Christmas. I know it is only the tip of the iceberg but nobody could give me an exact statistic as to how many were needed. I listened to parents the same as Senator Carrigy and I compliment him on the work he has done on that committee. I also compliment Mr. Fiacre Ryan, who sent me his book, Elaine and everybody because we need more conversations to understand what voices are missing and what pieces are missing. Sometimes it is not legislation; it is our understanding. We need to move on from awareness of disability to an understanding of how a person needs to be included to participate equally in society and that is living and breathing the UNCRPD.

I will continue to work with Senator Carrigy regarding the assistive technology piece and will bring back what Senator Carrigy raised to the Minister for Justice.