Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 July 2022
409. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the way that his Department and public bodies and agencies under his remit are implementing action 32 of the National Disability and Inclusion Strategy 2017-2021 (details supplied). [38731/22]
View answerConsulting and engaging with people with disabilities is an important obligation for the State under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and Action 32 of the National Disability Inclusion Strategy is a key driver of progress in this regard.
The Disability Participation and Consultation Network was established in late 2020 with funding from my Department in furtherance of Action 32 and relevant UNCRPD obligations. The purpose of the DPCN is to build capacity within the disability community and to create a mechanism through which people with disabilities and organisations of and for people with disabilities can participate fully in the development of law and policy in Ireland. The DPCN's first task was to bring the voices of people with disabilities into consultations on Ireland’s Initial State Report to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, outlining our progress in implementing the Convention since its ratifying in 2018.
The DPCN have, since then, continued to build capacity across the disability community and have continued to facilitate consultations, making critical contributions into policy and law-making proesses across Departments.
I am committed to fulfilling Ireland's obligations under the UNCRPD in relation to engaging and consulting people with disabilities by ensuring that policies and legislation are underpinned by robust and wide-ranging consultation with people with disabilities. In this regard, the approach represented by the phrase “nothing about us without us” is a core principle of my Department's approach to continuing to support the DPCN in furtherance of Action 32 of the National Disability Inclusion Strategy.
In addition to the DPCN, the architecture of the National Disability Inclusion Strategy includes ongoing engagement and consultation with the members of the Disability Stakeholder Group (DSG). The DSG is a monitoring group comprised of disability experts, including experts by experience and representatives of DPOs. The DSG attends the quarterly meetings of the National Disability Inclusion Strategy Steering Group (NDISSG) meetings, which I chair. DSG representatives also attend quarterly meetings of Departmental Consultative Committees, which are held in advance of the national meeting of the NDISSG and focus on progress under the NDIS at individual departmental level.
