Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I think I am in line for a Louis Vuitton for her 21st birthday or something like that. I am saving; I have saved for 21 years.

I want to begin by paying enormous tribute to the Acting Leader. I am thrilled to see him as Acting Leader today. I missed the last day he was here. I am about to speak about the Oireachtas disability group, but I actually want to pay tribute to the fact that Senator Conway is an extraordinary example of what can be done and how an individual can overcome any of the impediments that are put before him or her. I am very proud to be his colleague and to support the amazing advocacy he does.

On that subject, I had a meeting this morning with the members of the Oireachtas disability group who are seeking meetings with all of us in advance of the budget to make sure they get heard on their pre-budget submissions. The group is a combination of Inclusion Ireland, the National Federation of Voluntary Bodies, Independent Living Movement Ireland, the Disability Federation of Ireland's Mental Health Reform and the National Disability Authority. They are a fantastic group of advocates who work passionately to advance everybody's right to live their best lives and the lives of their choosing. They have three particular asks, however, one of which is that we tackle poverty among disabled constituents. The second is improving access to supports and housing provision for our disabled constituents and the third is to ensure support for disabled persons organisations and disability organisations providing vital services across our constituencies.

Let us come back to the poverty piece, though. The fact is that if a person has a disability, he or she is much more likely to be in poverty and impoverished for the rest of his or her life, whether that is around access to education or work or otherwise. The sheer cost of disability was outlined in a recent report. We need a situation where a minimum of €50 is given per week in the budget. All of us need to make sure we advocate passionately, especially those of us in Government parties, on people's behalf.

There are particular disabilities, though, for which people have to apply and prove they are disabled on an annual basis. People with Down's syndrome have to annually prove that they still have Down's syndrome. That is an outrage. I have started a campaign within my own parliamentary party to discuss it and speak with the Taoiseach about it. However, it is time for this to end and for us to move to that place very urgently. I thank and congratulate the Acting Leader.