This is a civics lesson in how parliamentary democracy is abused.

I thank the Minister of State. I have one minute to respond. I appreciate that the Minister of State, out of respect for the process, has undertaken to respond. I want him to know that we have 150 disabled children in need of complex spinal surgery. Children like my son are being allowed to deteriorate because of a vendetta by the board of CHI against two senior surgeons who raised concerns about the mistreatment of Irish children. We have it within our gift to resolve this problem today but the Minister is refusin…

Where is the Minister? I am sorry, Acting Chairperson, you are going to have to remove me from this Chamber.

I do not care. There are 150 children in extreme pain.

I have raised this matter before. Nobody is listening. What does the Acting Chairperson expect me to do?

What if it was your child, Acting Chairperson? What if it was the Minister of State's child? If the Acting Chairperson's child became permanently paralysed-----

-----would he invoke Standing Orders? Would you invoke a one-minute limit on a response?

I am not going-----

You are going to have to remove me from this Chamber.

This is emblematic of the way that this Government, and Irish policy, treat disabled people.

I will not take my seat. You are going to have to remove me from this Chamber.

I am not taking my seat.

Suspend away.

This is an absolute disgrace. If anybody looking on or listening to this ever doubted the contempt with which disabled citizens and carers are held in this country, here is the evidence. This is the proof of it.

I was outside the gates for 20 years protesting, protests that fell on deaf ears.

I got elected by the people to come in here and was given a mandate to raise these issues. When I come into this Chamber, what I have to say falls on deaf ears. They do not even turn up to listen to the matters that are being raised.

I am not raising issues about expenses, listed buildings or rainforests-----

-----I am talking about 150 children who are in pain.

I thank all my colleagues this morning for their expressions of support and solidarity. It is very much appreciated. I also thank the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, who was here for a different Commencement matter this morning but out of decency and courtesy sat and listened and had to hear me give out. I want to raise the issue of Mr. David Dignan, who is a 39-year-old man from Moate in Westmeath. He had a motorcycle accident in 2019 when he was driving over to see his mother and was very seriously injured. …

I move amendment No. 1: After the last paragraph under “calls on the Government to:”, to insert the following paragraph: “- abandon the proposals contained in the Green Paper on Disability Reform 2023 to medically categorise disabled citizens on their capacity to work.”.