Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 8 May 2024
478. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to report on the cost to fully implement, resource and operate the UNCRPD; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20931/24]
View answerIreland ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) on 20 March 2018. This marked an important milestone in a process to strengthen the rights of people with disabilities in Ireland that has gathered momentum since Ireland became a signatory to the Convention in 2007. Ireland’s approach to meeting the obligations of the UNCRPD is one of continuous advancement, each year moving forward on key reforms, with the obligations arising from the Convention being ever-strengthened over time.
As such, the process of fully implementing and realising the UNCRPD is one without a defined end, and one which, in alignment with the Convention, State Parties must strive toward in the spirit of ongoing improvement. In line with the UNCRPD, Ireland takes a "mainstream-first" approach to the provision of disability services. This means that services for disabled people should be delivered in the first instance on the basis of mainstream inclusion, as opposed to separate or segregated provision.
As such, it is incumbent upon all public bodies to execute all of their functions in a manner that aligns with the UNCRPD and advances its implementation. In this way, given the breadth and depth of the UNCRPD's scope and is impact across public policy, and the fact that the UNCRPD articulates models of behaviour as much as concrete and definitive end points, it is not possible to quantify the cost of its full implementation.
In order to provide a framework in which strategic direction and budgetary commitments on disability issues can be better coordinated across government, my Department is committed to the delivery in 2024 of Ireland’s next National Disability Strategy. This is in fulfilment of a Programme for Government commitment to develop an implementation plan to advance the delivery of Ireland’s commitments under the Convention. The next National Disability Strategy will take a whole-of-government approach to advancement of the UNCRPD and provide a framework for further and ongoing action to implement the rights set out in the CRPD.
