Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 26 March 2025
184. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth regarding the disabled persons’ representative organisations’ (DPROs) specific consultations on the National Disability Strategy, the reason the Government is not closely working with two DPROs (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14307/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraGovernment is committed to implementing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, as ratified by Ireland in 2018. This includes commitment to Article 4(3) which stipulates that State Parties shall closely consult with and actively involve persons with disabilities through their representative organisations in policy making and implementation. Government is also committed to the implementation of Article 33(3) mandating that: “Civil society, in particular persons with disabilities and their representative organizations, shall be involved and participate fully in the monitoring process.”
In developing the next National Disability Strategy my Department undertook an extensive national formal consultation process which was a genuinely and categorically participative process open to all individuals and groups. Both of the organisations referenced by the Deputy were directly invited to, and did, actively participate in that process on a number of occasions.
The two organisations indicated by the Deputy were included in this consultation process as a matter of course. Both organisations were invited to several town hall events, with open access to more than 30 focus groups led by the National Disability Authority and both received an invitation to participate in a national survey. Both were invited to a key stakeholder event in the summer of last year on the development of the Strategy. Both participated in early scoping engagements in the summer and Autumn of 2022 on development of the strategy and the setting of priorities. The two organisations in question were also engaged at a trilateral meeting with the Department in December 2023 and, where appropriate to their various memberships on representative groups, have been engaged as part of broader consultation with, for example, the Disability Stakeholder Group and the Disability Participation and Consultation Network, during the period when those Groups were in situ. In addition to this, any submissions received by my Department in relation to the Strategy from these organisations have been duly considered on an equal basis to any and all submissions received from DPOs.
Currently under consideration by my Department is the development of robust and comprehensive structures that will provide for effective disability stakeholders’ input and engagement under the National Disability Strategy, in line with obligations under Article 4(3), Article 29(b) and Article 33(3) of the UNCRPD. Consultation on these structures will include seeking the perspectives of all key stakeholders as a matter of course.
