The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 13 December 2006. I have arranged for a copy of the Convention to be forwarded to the Deputy. It can also be accessed on the internet at http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/.
Ireland, along with our EU partners, was an active and supportive participant in the negotiations leading up to the agreement of the Convention. Ireland supported its adoption in December by the General Assembly. The draft Convention outlines the general obligations of States in relation to the rights of persons with disabilities. It aims to ensure that persons with disabilities are given an equal opportunity to enjoy their human rights and specifies that discrimination on the grounds of disability is impermissible.
The Convention states that it will open for signature on 30 March 2007 and that States may subsequently ratify the Convention. The Convention will enter into force on the thirtieth day after the deposit of the twentieth instrument of ratification or accession by States.
At present, my colleague, the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, who has lead responsibility for equality issues for persons with disabilities, is examining the Convention before seeking Government approval for Ireland to sign the Convention. I am hopeful that Ireland will be in a position to do so at an early date. Thereafter the steps necessary to allow for ratification, and the timescale for these steps, will be primarily for the Tánaiste and his Department to consider.