As required under the Disability Act 2005, my Department's sectoral plan was approved by the Houses of the Oireachtas in October 2006. The plan, covering my Department, its partner bodies and local authorities, provides for a range of positive measures which will promote and pro-actively encourage equal opportunities for persons with disabilities to participate in the economic, social and cultural life of the community.
Under the sectoral plan each local authority is committed to carrying out an accessibility audit, by the end of April 2007, of all roads and streets, pavements and pedestrian crossings, public buildings, public parks, amenities and open spaces, heritage sites, public libraries and harbours within its control and to identifying the remedial action necessary to make them accessible. The accessibility audits also cover access to services and information. Each local authority will, within three months of completing the accessibility audit, draw up an implementation plan setting out a programme of actions and detailed costings to give effect to the commitments and objectives contained in the 2005 Act and in the sectoral plan.
Additional resources have been provided since 2005, as part of the National Disability Strategy multi-annual funding programme, to support work on accessibility audits and implementation undertaken by local authorities. I am providing a further €15 million in 2007 for this programme, which complements existing funding available to local authorities for mainstream public services. In addition to financial provisions, my Department is providing practical support to the local government sector by, for example, helping to develop a template implementation plan which will be made available to local authorities in the coming weeks.
Local authorities have been encouraged to build their own internal capacity for implementation purposes, while making judicious use of external expertise as necessary, and the ongoing funding programme has supported this combined approach. As set out in the plan, roles and functions in relation to access for people with disabilities are assigned at local level to specified staff, cross-functional teams and groups building on existing local authority structures. It is a matter for the City or County Manager concerned to make the necessary staffing and organisational arrangements for this purpose.
In line with Government policy on public service employment and subject to rigorous criteria, it is open to local authorities to set out priority short term staff needs and a number of local authorities have had short term posts approved to support the disability strategy.
