Margaret Murphy O'Mahony (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Cathaoirelach for choosing my Commencement matter. I welcome the Minister of State to the House and thank him for taking time out of his extremely busy schedule to reply to my matter. Councillor Patrick Donovan, a member of Cork County Council, does Trojan work in the field of disability and inclusivity. I want to publicly acknowledge his contribution to the disability sector. He really is a hands-on councillor in this regard. He has secured a commitment for a few car parking spaces for people with hidden disabilities, which is very important. Fair play to him.

As the Minister of State knows, hidden disabilities are often called invisible disabilities. They are disabilities not easily seen by the naked eye and are often impossible to see such as chronic fatigue, depression and autism. They are not visible but they can be very debilitating. It is very important to make life as easy as we can for anyone with hidden disabilities and providing priority car parking spaces is hugely important. The only thing is, these spaces, though very welcome, are provided on a non-statutory basis. They are akin to parent-and-toddler and the age-friendly spaces, where we depend on the goodwill of the public to adhere to the restrictions on that space. It is only when our pockets are hit or there is a threat of our pockets being hit that we really take notice. I am calling for a review of parking policy with regard to these type of spaces to make them statutory and to enhance what can be done with regard to people adhering to the restrictions on those spaces.

This Government is clearly committed to the whole sector of disability. It is very important that there is going to be cross-party connection and work on the delivery of disability services and measures that will help the disability sector. The Minister of State will agree that at the end of its tenure the Government wants to leave people with disabilities in a better place than when it started. Making these car parking spaces statutory so that people will adhere to them would be a great start.