Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 14 July 2021
92. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Finance the way 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). [38509/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department actively engages with a range of stakeholders in the delivery of its objectives including representatives from the community and voluntary sector and from groups representing people with disabilities, and regularly reviews and refreshes its stakeholder engagement structures to ensure there is a broad level of engagement across sectors.
An example of this is the National Economic Dialogue, an important consultation mechanism used to inform economic and social policy development in the context of the annual budgetary cycle. It provides a deliberative forum for stakeholders to participate in an open and inclusive exchange on the competing economic and social priorities facing the Government. The Dialogue is hosted jointly by my Department and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. Representatives of a variety of community, voluntary and environmental groups participate along with stakeholders from business, trade unions, research institutes and the academic community. Members of the Committee on Budgetary Oversight represent the Oireachtas through their participation in the event. The sessions are structured to maximise the opportunities for stakeholders to actively engage with the Ministers for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform and their Ministerial colleagues as well as senior officials.
A number of bodies under the aegis of my Department provide public services as follows:
The Central Bank of Ireland actively engages with people with disabilities through a number of fora. Its internal employee resource group, the Bankability Network, is responsible for providing support to employees with disabilities, raising awareness among staff of disability issues and attracting prospective employees with disabilities to the Bank. The Bank engages with the Bankability Network on relevant matters to ensure colleagues with disabilities are provided with an opportunity to contribute on these issues. It has a Diversity and Inclusion Working Group which provides an opportunity for members to inform and contribute to the Bank’s overall Disability and Inclusion agenda, and has an internal Disability Taskforce in place that is responsible for coordinating and overseeing compliance with disability legislation. The Bank engages with external organisations to support the employment of persons with disabilities. It continues to engage with the Association for Higher Education Access and Disability (AHEAD) on the facilitation of Willing Able Mentoring (WAM) work placements, ring-fencing roles on its graduate programmes for those who apply via WAM. The Bank participates in various events and workshops including AHEAD’s annual careers event for students and graduates with disabilities.
The Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (FSPO) is committed to the priorities set out in the National Disability Inclusion Strategy 2017-2021. The accessibility of its services for people with disabilities and the consideration of wider human rights and equality issues related to the FSPO’s functions form a key commitment of its 3-year Strategic Plan. In particular, the FSPO has committed to reviewing its key projects over the lifetime of the Strategic Plan through a human rights and equality lens which will involve disability-proofing its services and may include consultation, as appropriate. Recently, the FSPO conducted an open public consultation process to inform the development of its Strategic Plan.
The Office of the Revenue Commissioners is fully committed to providing excellent service to all individuals. As part of that commitment, Revenue provides a network of trained Access Officers who are available to assist customers with disabilities. To ensure the quality of this service is maintained to the highest standards, Access Officers receive ongoing training in disability awareness and equality, guided by material published by the National Disability Authority and the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. Revenue also works with Sign Language Interpreting Service (SLIS), the national sign language interpreting service for Ireland, to provide a free Irish sign language interpreting service to customers with hearing disabilities.
