Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the efforts of the committee. It did a fantastic job of putting the report with 109 recommendations together. I acknowledge the Chair who did a really good job. He really tied in the key points that needed to be made. Senator Micheál Carrigy had been a really good advocate for people who need help and it is great he used his personal experience to make sure this report went through the Houses of the Oireachtas. This debate is very welcome because we are going through a potential change that will happen during the next few months.We do not know who it will be or what is going to happen. Whenever the new Government is formed, we need to make sure the 109 recommendations form a major part of the programme for Government. That is why this debate is so important. Hopefully, we are future-proofing the report so the next Administration, whoever they may be, will take into consideration the good work that has been put together.

The 109 recommendations are very important for the people who have worked hard in their communities to make sure there is hope at the end of this. That is the key: we now have hope. We have a roadmap and a master plan, and we need to work to make sure they are implemented. We need only look at the changes in society in recent years. For example, there is the course that we all did here in the Oireachtas. In my area, Clonakilty is now an autism-friendly town. If you go into Scally’s supermarket on a given night, it is autism-friendly and a place where people can go shopping in a different atmosphere. The world is moving fast in this space and it is important that, as a Legislature and a democracy, we move with it. The people are potentially ahead of us at this stage. We need to move into a space where we make sure everything is inclusive. That is what this report has done. It has brought forward key recommendations to ensure we can move forward in that space.

The timing of this debate is very important. There will be political changes in time and we need to make sure they are incorporated into whatever regime or Administration is put in place.