I wish to raise the issue of a section 140 motion that was tabled at Dublin City Council yesterday evening. The motion, which sought to challenge the draft Dublin city transport plan, was brought by an Independent councillor, Damian O'Farrell. It is very commendable in that he pointed out that disabled persons' organisations, DPOs, had not been consulted regarding the Dublin transport plan. This plan will have major implications for more than 1 million citizens and Dublin people. It shows how the council has disregarded the components of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, UNCRPD. This sets out that deep consultation with disabled persons' organisations must be engaged in. One cannot just talk to service providers; one must talk to DPOs and have a close consultation with them. This is under Article 4(3) of the UNCRPD and is also de facto set out in section 69(2) of the Local Government Act 2001. With regard to that, the Government has fully endorsed the UNCRPD. The Taoiseach, Deputy Harris, has given a commitment to fully ratify all the protocols, including the optional protocol, within the life of the Government. Dublin City Council must have regard for the objectives and the will of the Government and the will of the people in this regard. The council cannot set that aside and disregard it. I am sorry to say that the motion put forward by Councillor O'Farrell was amended by other councillors to put in an add-on which amounts to a box-ticking exercise of talking to some DPOs later on.

This should really have been flagged to the chief executive because Dublin City Council's non-provision of an accessible version of the draft Dublin city transport plan to a DPO, namely, Voice of Vision Impairment, was challenged. It was found to breach the terms of the settlement of a Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, case from 2018. The council has even disregarded the recommendation of the WRC that it must seriously engage in close consultation. I ask for a meeting to be arranged between the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and the DPOs that will be most impacted by this radical plan for Dublin transport. I welcome the plan, but it cannot be in breach of the UNCRPD.

I am on a similar theme to that raised by Senator Clonan but with a different focus. One of the most welcome initiatives of our new Taoiseach, Deputy Harris, has been to set up a Cabinet sub-committee on disability issues, with a particular focus on children with disabilities. The sub-committee is up and functioning and being chaired by the Taoiseach in an active way. It is a very important initiative. Before I come to my substantive point, I wish to put on the record that, at numerous meetings between Cavan parents of children with disabilities and the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, I have been very impressed by her genuine commitment to doing something on this issue. She has shown patent sincerity in this regard. I welcome that and I welcome the sub-committee but I ask the Leader to ensure, either through debates or bringing our view upstairs, that we make it clear that we must eliminate, or reduce to a period of weeks, the waiting lists for child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS.

To have people waiting for CAMHS in the obvious condition, state of mind, state of stress, state of anxiety or whatever that an adolescent would be in - it is by definition for adolescents - and to suggest they should be left up to a year waiting is an abomination. It is crazy. That condition, as the Leader and I know, is not something one can take chances with. CAMHS is really urgent. Obviously, assessments for autism and various neurological issues, assessments for disabilities, such as dyspraxia and dyslexia, and assessments for all disabilities that will impact on education and personal development have to be speedy. I would be interested in the Leader's reaction to this question and in what she might propose could be done about it from a Seanad perspective. This is above politics. It is not a partisan question. It is not a party political question. It is a human rights question; it is a human question. It transcends all issues. We have to throw ourselves at this one. It would be a wonderful legacy of this Parliament if there was real action here.