Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 8 May 2024
477. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to report on the cost to ratify the Optional Protocol to the UNCRPD; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20930/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraRatification of the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) is a commitment in the Programme for Government, and I remain committed to ratification at the earliest possible date.
Ireland ratified the UNCRPD on 20 March 2018 and continues to implement the Convention on the basis of the continuous advancement of rights. Ireland has also engaged fully in the monitoring and accountability processes set out in the Convention, having submitted its first state report to the Committee in November of 2021 and we now await a review date before the Committee in Geneva. Ireland has also placed IHREC's role as the national independent monitoring body for the UNCRPD on a statutory basis.
As the Deputy will be aware, the Optional Protocol is an optional and additional international treaty that establishes additional procedures aimed at enhancing the implementation of UNCRPD rights. A scoping exercise on ratification is well advanced to ensure that the implications arising in respect of meeting the obligations under the Optional Protocol are identified.
While careful consideration is being given to the broader cost implications of ratification in the longer term, which may be difficult to quantify given the breadth and depth on the UNCRPD itself, it is my current understanding that there are no substantive direct costs expected to be incurred in terms of the act of ratification itself.
My Department has established an Inter-Departmental Group (IDG) to ensure that a comprehensive, whole-of-Government approach is taken to ensuring that the necessary enabling work to provide for the ratification of the Optional Protocol is completed, and so that ratification can proceed as quickly as possible.
There is a long-standing position of the state in relation to honouring international agreements. As a matter of foreign policy, Ireland does not enter into binding international treaties until we are confident that the obligations set out can be complied with. As such, the ongoing scoping exercise is procedurally necessary.
I intend to provide an update to my cabinet colleagues on the progress of the IDG and it's work on ratification of the Optional Protocol later in the year.
