Wheelchair users and their carers demonstrated outside the Dáil last week to keep CUISLE open. Its where the wheelchair users go on holidays, and they love it because of kind staff and that they can be together. €1.5 is needed to refurbish Cuisle, but the Minister won’t cough up. He says they can use hotels instead. Disappointing that the CEO of the Irish Wheelchair Association seemed to me, to lack a willingness to fight for the IWA members preference for Cuisle, indeed, not to have assessed their preferences properly, and to glorify hotels instead. Here’s our exchange at the Health committee today.

A new report on DISABILITY AND ACCESS TO TRAVEL was discussed yesterday in the Dáil. A good report, with good ideas. Will it be matched by the government’s committment to equality for disabled people? Consider this: they are gung-ho on privatisation of transport, yet there is no requrement for private operators to facilitate disabled travellers! This is outrageous. We must keep the pressure on Shane Ross and the govt parties to do the right thing – they can’t be trusted to do its themselves