Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 October 2016
77. Deputy Michael Harty asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if the Government has undertaken to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities by end of 2016; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31552/16]
View answer78. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality when it is likely that Dáil Éireann will vote on the ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. [31621/16]
View answer79. Deputy Pat Buckley asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality her plans to ratify the United Nations convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which is due to be ratified by Christmas 2016. [31631/16]
View answer100. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the status of the Government's ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. [31603/16]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 77 to 79, inclusive, and 100 together.
On 21 October 2015, the previous Government published a roadmap to Ireland's ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which outlines the considerable legislative changes to be undertaken to enable Ireland to ratify the Convention, along with the estimated deadline of end-2016 for ratification. The Roadmap to Ratification, which is available on my Department's website, sets out the substantial legislative agenda required for ratification.
Considerable progress has already been made to overcome barriers to Ireland's ratification. The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 was signed into law on 30 December 2015 and is a comprehensive reform of the law on decision-making capacity. The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015 commenced its second stage reading in the Dáil on 5 October. When enacted, the Bill will reform Section 5 of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 1993 to facilitate the full participation in family life of persons with intellectual disabilities and the full expression of their human rights. Achieving the necessary balance between those rights and ensuring appropriate protection is crucial.
Work is also underway on drawing up an Equality/Disability (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill to progress miscellaneous legislative amendments necessary to proceed to ratification. It is intended that the Bill will address issues such as the Convention's requirements in relation to reasonable accommodation and deprivation of liberty, as well as removing archaic references in existing legislation relating to mental health. The General Scheme of the Equality/Disability (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill is available on the Department's website. I expect to publish the Bill shortly so as to facilitate ratification of the Convention by end-2016.
