The cost of living for people with disabilities has been highlighted across the Chamber. If we start off with disabilities and things we could have done even before we reached this point and which were asked for, Maurice Noonan, who is from Granagh, and his partner were here last year. They are both wheelchair users. They were here in the Chamber. Mr. Noonan told me about simple things that he lost out on in childhood. He is 25 years old; the same age as my son. He missed 18th and 21st birthdays as a result of the fact that he could not get into any of the places in which they were being held because they did not have wheelchair-accessible toilets. That is still the case in pubs and other places that people go to in order to socialise. It is still the case because there was no incentive or grant aid offered by the Government to make sure that businesses installed disabled toilets. No matter how small or big a business is, it should have the facilities for everyone. Simple things like that prevented Mr. Noonan from going to 18th and 21st birthdays or even from going out with his friends. Something that struck me is the fact that people who have outgrown their equipment have to hand it back. It is then kept in a warehouse and those responsible for it are not allowed to give it back out. Individuals have offered to look at, for example, a wheelchair or whatever to check that it is okay. People have outgrown their wheelchairs, which have been left sitting in warehouses. There are children who are looking for bigger wheelchairs but who cannot be given the ones to which I refer. Under the system that is in place, people have to wait two years for equipment that is sitting in warehouses. That equipment is perfect, but they are not allowed to have it. That does not make sense, and now we have the cost-of-living crisis on top of it. Everything has become so expensive. People with disabilities should be treated as equals but they are not. Everything comes second and third. If people were put in that situation, they would have a different outlook on life. If a person could not see or hear, would they not have a different outlook? Because we do not have that, we do not see it. The Government should look at simplifying different things for people with different disabilities, to make things easier in the interim for them until they get what they need. The one thing that struck me was Maurice stating that he could not go to an ATM or to a 21st birthday party. He would often go into places and be told that the disabled toilets were up three steps. People simply do not think of the basics. If we cannot get the basics right, and now we have a cost-of-living crisis to get right, what hope does anyone have if we cannot see that? I ask the Minister of State to take a common-sense approach and simplify things. It is not actually that hard.

Sentiment score: 0.05