Yesterday we were invited by the Joint Committee on Disability Matters to a meeting of the Committee to discuss living independently in the community. The topics included Personal budgets/individualised funding and personal assistance service. At the meeting we shared our view that Individualised funding is essential to achieving real inclusion, autonomy and equality for disabled people in Ireland and that when combined with the vision of an ordinary life, individualised funding can be transformative, helping people with disabilities lead inclusive lives in their communities. Despite the fact that the Personal Budgets Demonstration Project was hindered by the pandemic and insufficient staffing and resources, Leap understands that for people who successfully accessed a personal budget through this option the results have been truly life-changing. Afterwards we had tea in the Oireachtas coffee dock with TD and member of the Committee, Gillian Toole and were served by Daniel Carroll, member of the catering team.
We based our contribution at this meeting on a detailed submission we made earlier this year to the UNCRPD Committee in preparation for the State being publicly questioned by the Committee for the first time in 2026.