I also commend Deputy Quinlivan, as committee Chair, the clerk to the committee and the committee secretariat who have done a huge amount of work. I would like to tackle one of the issues Deputy Toole brought up. It is absolutely spurious to believe that anyone would have gone over time at the Joint Committee on Disability Matters and I would just like that recorded. I cannot imagine who she meant-----

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-----and neither can the Minister of State.

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When we are talking about inclusive education we need to make sure that this is part of wider inclusivity. Deputy Quinlivan, two other members of the committee and I were lucky enough to be at the 19th Conference of States Parties to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on the 20th year of the UNCRPD. We dealt with a huge range of issues. It was everything from autism services for adults, to participation in sport right through to the role and impact of conflict on those with disabilities. I commend ambassador and permanent representative, Mr. Fergal Mythen, and the mission to the UN, whose guests we were, on what was a very worthwhile enterprise. We were doing this in the United Nations in New York when the regime in America is obviously putting extreme pressure on the United Nations and the whole idea of multilateralism and international law. On some level it nearly makes it more important at this point in time. The ethos across the board was about inclusivity and ensuring that those with disabilities could participate fully in every aspect of society. It was about mainstreaming, which is about supports and ensuring, as much possible when talking about education, that people with disabilities can play a full part in mainstream education if that suits. I understand that will be different for every person. On universal design, whether we are talking about course content, capital projects and settings like this, it is about ensuring as much as possible that we facilitate as many as possible. We are talking about those with mobility issues, those who Deputy Quinlivan spoke about who have issues with hearing, those who have vision-related issues and those who are neurodivergent. We already know that this particular Chamber would suit almost none of them but that is what we need to be about. It is about universal design, mainstreaming and reasonable accommodation. In fairness, that means it has to be reasonable. While we will not always be able to facilitate everyone, the plan should be to facilitate as many as possible and then, if we need bespoke solutions for those with more challenging needs, we should be able to provide them. I do not think I could continue on mentioning the NOW Group, that the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach, Deputy O'Reilly, a number of others and I were lucky enough to meet earlier. It is a social enterprise group that is based in Dublin, Belfast and throughout. I think it has a place in the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach's constituency. It was really worthwhile. No more than a lot of the interactions that the disability matters committee has had, we listened to people talking about their lived experience. We also dealt with the cost-of-living issue at the disability matters committee this week. I do not think I need to go into the absolute need for a cost-of-living payment and ensuring that it is for everybody, and not just those who are getting social protection payments based on their disability at present. We met representatives from the Irish Wheelchair Association, Rehab and AsIAm. Conor Lynott and Áine Dunne, in particular, spoke about their cases in relation to housing but no more than the young people from the NOW Group, they spoke about getting jobs, and how we do not allow for all those transitions, be they the transitions from early childcare through to primary, post-primary and tertiary education, as well as the transition into work. There are those who are worried about losing their payments and those who are worried about losing a medical card, even if it is a number of years later. We could be talking about people who have significant health needs. We also spoke about the issues that this State has to get better at in respect of facilitating the connection between industry, enterprise and these young people, who will be able to provide a real benefit to the economy and to these companies. In fairness, there was talk about how many companies are worried, have an element of trepidation and are unaware of the schemes that exist such as the wage subsidy scheme or the work and access programme. What also was pointed out to us is that those schemes are not fit for purpose. We must have a more comprehensive and holistic look at how we deal with disability. When we talk about inclusive education, we all know the issues that exist. We could literally spend our entire time here talking about the issues facing those who are waiting for an assessment of need. We could talk about those who, even if they have an assessment, cannot get the necessary therapies. For all of the improvements there have been with regard to workforce planning, we know that we need the back-up of assistive technology. When I am in these circumstances, I find it hard not to use the example that I know the best, which is our Turlough. I am sure that all the Members have heard me speak about him before. He is 17 and is autistic. He attends Ó Fiaich Institute of Further Education. He attended St. Joseph's National School before that and as I have said previously, he has been facilitated no end. I often talk about speech and language therapy, SLT, and what I will say is that he, his family and the school all would have been better off had those therapies happened within a school setting and had we been involved. It would have been even better if we had assistive technology rather than photocopies - and I am not taking away from the quality of the SLT that was provided - but from the State's point of view, it is about getting the best bang for buck. It is also about getting the best bang for buck from Turlough's point of view - who is the person who definitely needs it - as well as ensuring that I and my wife, who does all the heavy lifting in relation to most of this, would also get the best benefit out of it. Children of his age have no issue or rather probably too many issues in relation to using screens but we can all see how it would work if we were talking about assistive technology and apps that back up best practice and which would also benefit teaching staff and SNAs. Being from Limerick, Deputy Quinlivan could not but speak about the Corpus Christi Primary School. I also have to mention it. I was really taken with the principal, Tiernan O'Neill, and his staff. In fairness, I see it as nothing but an outlier school in relation to being at the absolute centre of the Moyross community but even beyond that, through fundraising it ensured that it had the supports that were required within that school setting. These are for all children and that is the idea of mainstreaming because we are talking about counselling and psychological services, along with SLT, OT and all those requirements that are needed. We often speak about early intervention without actually delivering it. In a lot of cases, if we could give most children that early intervention, it would probably reduce those situations and circumstances that arise. From the State's point of view, that would be easier, quicker, faster and cheaper. From a budgetary point of view, it is an absolute win-win. It is about ensuring that we can deliver this. The report also deals with the reality of the fact that we do not have enough OTs, SLTs, or psychologists and while we need to do those pieces of work, there is far more that we need to do. Deputy Toole spoke about how a lot of parents come to us and their issues are generally related to school, including reduced timetables. Some schools can be better than others depending on a number of factors. If there are staff changes and a particular SNA, teacher or SET leaves, it can change the dynamic within a school. Meltdowns can be very difficult to deal with but if strategies are employed, they can be reduced and are generally avoidable. I can speak from my own experience in this regard. Along with Liskennett and equine therapy, I could not but mention Louth Disability Cycling Club. I also have to mention that Louth County Council and the HSE are coming on board to make it into something that is sustainable because that is beneficial to those people with disabilities who engage with it and their families.

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It is well up.

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