Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 11:

In page 7, lines 19 to 21, to delete all words from and including “to keep” in line 19 down to and including “disabilities;",” in line 21 and substitute the following: “to promote, protect, and monitor the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and to keep under review the adequacy and effectiveness of law and practice in the State relating to the protection of persons with disabilities. Adequate funding and resources will be provided to carry out these functions;”,”.

This amendment was proposed by the Disability Federation of Ireland. The federation is of the view that the Bill does not provide a broad enough mandate to comply fully with the UN Convention. This amendment uses language taken directly from the convention and it tasks the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, IHREC, not only with reviewing the law but also with promoting awareness of the convention and ensuring its continued implementation. The amendment removes the paternalistic language of this section of the Bill and focuses on empowering people with disabilities rather than on protection. It goes without saying that IHREC must be adequately funded and resourced if it is to be given new duties. We often give extra powers to bodies, as with the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC, for example, but if we do not resource them adequately, those powers cannot be used.