Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 2 June 2022
317. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the extent to which women with disabilities are receiving sufficient attention and correspondence from his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28749/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraI engage on an ongoing basis with a range of stakeholders, including people with disabilities and Disabled Persons Organisations (DPOs), to make progress on the issues and challenges facing people with disabilities and to further realise the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) in Ireland.
I consider the input of all stakeholders, including women with disabilities, to be fundamentally important to the development of effective and inclusive disability policy. This view is shared by my colleague, the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O'Gorman T.D..
Women with disabilities are strongly represented in policy development processes. The Disabled Women of Ireland (DWI), for instance, is one of several DPOs in receipt of funding from my Department as part of the Disability Participation and Consultation Network (DPCN).
Given the interlinkages between disability equality policy and other equality areas such as gender, my officials coordinate a wide range of colleagues across the Department, other Government Departments/Agencies and external stakeholders to ensure that disability policy and strategy development takes account of the specific needs of different groups in society, on an explicitly intersectional basis.
Equally, the equality needs of people with disabilities are taken into account in other national equality strategies. One of the aims of the outgoing National Strategy for Women and Girls, for instance, is to ensure that women with disabilities can participate fully in Irish society.
My Department coordinates two whole-of-government strategies which include important measures to support people with disabilities in all aspects of their lives. The first of these is the National Disability Inclusion Strategy (NDIS). The second is the Comprehensive Employment Strategy.
The NDIS is a key framework for policy and action to support effective progress in delivering on the obligations set out in the UNCRPD. The National Disability Inclusion Strategy Steering Group, which I chair, includes representatives from several Government Departments and Agencies and the Disability Stakeholder Group (DSG). Disabled Women of Ireland is represented on the NDIS Steering Group as a member of the DSG and their views are considered as part of the Steering Group's work in monitoring implementation of the NDIS.
