Dáil Éireann Debate, Friday - 16 December 2016
11. Deputy Gino Kenny asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality her views as to whether there is a legal barrier in view of the lack of any barrier to ratifying the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities from a legal perspective and only from a policy point of view; the policy of Government that has informed the failure to ratify the convention; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40440/16]
View answerI ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality her views as to whether there is a legal barrier in view of the lack of any barrier to ratifying the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
I thank Deputy Gino Kenny for raising this very important issue.
Ireland signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2007. Since then, successive Governments have emphasised Ireland's strong commitment to proceed to ratification as quickly as possible, taking into account the need to ensure all necessary legislative and administrative requirements under the convention are met.
The Government remains committed to the ratification of the convention. It is essential for the State to be in a position to meet the obligations it assumes under the terms of an international agreement from the moment of its entry into force for Ireland. Before the State can ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, enactment of new legislation and amendment of existing legislation is required to ensure obligations will be met upon its entry into force for Ireland. It would make no sense to ratify the convention before we have amended domestic legislation that contradicts it. Such an approach would do nothing to ensure compliance or protect the people for whose benefit the convention exists. Contrary to what the Deputy has suggested, there are no policy objections to the ratification of the convention. In October 2015, the previous Government published a roadmap that sets out the legislative measures needed to meet the various requirements, along with the declarations and reservations to be entered by Ireland on ratification.
I would like to outline the reasons for some of the delays. Considerable progress has been made to overcome the remaining legislative barriers to Ireland's ratification of the convention. The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015, which was signed into law on 30 December 2015, is a comprehensive reform of the law on decision-making capacity. The Committee Stage debate on the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015 was completed in the Dáil on 7 December last. When this Bill is enacted, it will reform section 5 of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 1993 to facilitate the full participation in family life of people with intellectual disabilities and the full expression of their human rights. It is crucial that we achieve the necessary balance between expressing those rights and ensuring there are appropriate protections.
Additional information not given on the floor of the House
Work is under way on drawing up the equality and disability (miscellaneous provisions) Bill to progress miscellaneous legislative amendments that are necessary to proceed to ratification. The Bill will address issues such as the convention's requirements regarding reasonable accommodation and deprivation of liberty. The general scheme of the equality and disability (miscellaneous provisions) Bill is available on the website of the Department of Justice and Equality. The Bill is at the final stages of drafting. I expect it to be published very shortly to facilitate the ratification of the convention as early as possible.
The Minister of State and I had a duel on this issue a few weeks ago. As most people know, over 156 countries have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Why has Ireland not ratified it? The Minister of State said previously that he would try to have it ratified before Christmas. I understand he is now considering the possibility of ratifying it in the third week of January.
When will this country ratify the convention? Can the Minister of State say categorically that it will be ratified very early in the new year?
The honest answer to the Deputy's final question is that I cannot say categorically when it will be ratified. I initially set myself a target of having it ratified by the end of 2016. I accept that this will not happen and I am very disappointed about that. I have outlined clearly the reasons for the delays, most of which pertain to procedural, legislative and bureaucratic issues. I reiterate that work is under way to draw up the equality and disability (miscellaneous provisions) Bill to progress the legislative amendments necessary to proceed to ratification. We have moved a long way in the past two weeks. It would be wrong for me to mention a specific date. All I can say is that it will happen as soon as possible in the new year. I remind Deputies and others who are interested in the rights of people with disabilities that a major investment in disability services, the aim of which is to improve the rights of people with disabilities, was announced last Monday. The recent budget provided for €1.688 billion to be allocated in this area next year. This represents an increase of €96.3 million, or 6%, on this year's figure. We intend to deliver 8,400 residential places, 182,000 respite overnight hours, €1.4 million personal assistant hours for 2,400 people, 24,800 day places and 41,000 respite sessions next year. We are delivering on the ground for people with disabilities. We are reinvesting and reforming. That is a great way to protect the rights of all people with disabilities.
I appreciate that progress is being made. However, the Minister of State cannot say categorically when the convention will be ratified. We could be having the same conversation this time next year. That would be an insult to anybody who has been campaigning on this issue. Will the Minister of State give the people who are listening to us an indication of some sort of timeframe in this regard? Obviously, he cannot give an exact date. Those who have been following this debate for the last eight years are probably getting tired of it. I accept that the Minister of State's bona fides on this issue are genuine, but I emphasise to him that in the interests of giving people confidence in the convention, there is a need to say that Ireland will ratify the convention in January or February.
I reject the Deputy's suggestion that my position on this issue is "an insult". I will not go back over my background on disability rights. Everybody in this House knows that I have campaigned for disability rights with parents' groups for over 20 years. I recently met over 250 people with disabilities at the Centre for Independent Living in Galway. They advised me to ensure the legislation is right and accurate. They said they did not mind waiting a little longer. That is good enough for me. The Deputy asked me when this will be done, which is the bottom line. It will definitely be done in 2017. It will be done as early as I can get it over the line next year.
