Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 July 2022
1404. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the estimated full cost of implementing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; the timeframe for same; the estimated cost of implementation in year one; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41499/22]
View answerIreland ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) in 2018. Since then, Ireland has pursued a policy of mainstream-first in progressively realising the rights contained in the Convention. For that reason, there is no end date by which implementation will be considered to be complete - as we make progress, we continually set the bar higher. Our ambition to respect, protect and fulfil the rights in the UNCRPD has no temporal limitation.
This Department coordinates two cross-cutting national strategies that drive action across all Government Departments and Agencies in relation to the implementation of the UNCRPD, these are the National Disability Inclusion Strategy and the Comprehensive Employment Strategy for People with Disabilities. However, each Department and Agency remains responsible, individually and collectively, for upholding the State's obligations under the UNCRPD.
There is no standardised system from which UNCRPD-specific implementation costs can be disaggregated or derived, and as such it is not possible to estimate the full cost of implementing the UNCRPD either in year one - 2018/2019 - or in subsequent years of implementation to the present day. However, the Initial State Report under the UNCRPD, which Ireland submitted to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 8 November 2021, outlines the breadth of actions taken to implement the UNCRPD since ratification. Ireland is currently awaiting a review date for this progress to be evaluated by the UN Committee.
I am fully committed to the UNCRPD and its implementation in Ireland, and to the commitment in the Programme for Government to develop a UNCRPD Implementation Plan. This commitment will be progressed inclusively through consultations with people with disabilities and their representative organisations in the second half of 2022.
