Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 September 2023
821. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to detail the preparations being undertaken by his Department in advance of the European Accessibility Act (Directive (EU) 2019/882); the guidance that is being issued by his Department to organisations and businesses in advance of the enactment of the directive; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39662/23]
View answerThe European Accessibility Act (EAA) is an important EU Directive that will introduce mandatory minimum accessibility requirements for certain products and services in the EU.
The Directive is both broad and deep in scope and covers a range of commonly used products and services that are important for daily life. It advocates for a universal design or ‘design for all’ approach to accessibility, which means ensuring access to products and services for persons with disabilities on an equal basis with others. The deadline for implementation of the Directive is 28 June 2025.
The Government recognises the importance of the EAA as a tool for increasing the availability of accessible products and services in the EU. Implementation of the Directive will benefit citizens with accessibility needs, including persons with disabilities and the elderly, as well as creating opportunities for Irish and European businesses trading in accessible goods and services.
The primary focus of efforts to date has been finalising transposition of the EAA. My Department has been working for a considerable period of time to coordinate transposition of this complex Directive with a range of Government Departments and public bodies. This has involved conducting extensive policy and legal analysis of the implications of the Directive, in close cooperation with my Department’s legal advisors and the Office of the Attorney General. It has also required extensive engagement with a range of departments and agencies to reach agreement on key policy decisions. Currently, my officials are engaging with drafters in the Office of Parliamentary Counsel to finalise drafting of the legislative instrument that will give effect to transposition.
Owing to the complexity of the Directive, and despite best efforts, the State was not in a position to transpose the Directive by the transposition deadline of June 2022. This deadline was also missed by a significant number of other EU Member States, and to date the majority of countries are under infringement proceedings by the Commission for failing to complete transposition of the Directive, which reflects the scale of the reform proposed. Domestically, extensive efforts have been, and continue to be made, to finalise transposition of the EAA as soon as possible. I now intend for transposition to be complete by the end of this year and that is the clear focus of work for my officials.
Once transposition is complete, that focus will shift to concerted efforts to prepare for implementation of the Directive by 28 June 2025. This work is expected to include interdepartmental and inter-agency consideration of operational procedures, capacity building, and outreach. While my Department is coordinating transposition, implementation of the Directive will be advanced on a “mainstream first” basis, in line with the State’s commitments under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the European Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This means implementation and oversight of the Directive will be led by those mainstream organisations already engaged in the oversight of products and services, who will be best placed to lead on sectoral preparations and guidance, with support from my Department and the National Disability Authority.
