Ms Fiona Murphy:

I thank the committee for this opportunity to address it. In writing this statement I am much reminded of a young boy I was humbled to know, Kevin Dunford from Ballina, County Mayo. A bright young boy with a life limiting condition, Kevin was non-verbal. Despite these challenges, Kevin had the innate ability to communicate honestly and assertively using all his other senses, his beautiful eyes, hand movements and gestures.

Inspired by Kevin and his ability rather than his disability, we began to study international evidence relating to the prevalence of persons with a disability engaging with the criminal justice process and their over-representation within the prison population.

We wanted to explore how we could ensure every measure possible is taken to support persons with disability who engage with the process. Concerned by the possible consequences for those with a disability, in particular individuals with hidden disability, it was important to not only understand their lived experience, but also the experiences and challenges of those working in the system and their awareness of disability and neurodiverse conditions, mental health, addiction and early childhood trauma. In light of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, UNCRPD, and other domestic legislation, the need to establish a practical working dialogue and understanding in relation to access to justice, human rights, structural violence and abuse was ever more critical. With the support and encouragement of the Association of Criminal Justice Research & Development, ACJRD, and other stakeholders, the initiative was developed through examining research, the gathering of anecdotal evidence and capacity building. The ICJDN was developed and has contributed to various events and discussions over the last number of years. Importantly, in 2016, seminars entitled "Towards Compliance with the UNCRPD: the Role of Criminal Justice Professionals" were held in Limerick and Dublin. To bring together participants from the areas of disability, health and criminal justice, a round-table discussion organised by the ICJDN was held to facilitate the sharing, learning and exploration of opportunities that would improve access to justice in a way that would be cost-effective, collaborative and mutually beneficial. What clearly emerged from the report was the willingness and active desire, from both criminal justice agencies and the disability community, to work proactively to meet a shared challenge in a very human way. While in the process of designing online training materials, with thanks to Ms Breda Fitzgerald, Ms Kasia Zabinska and board director Mr. Eamon Ryan, an important communications technique was developed. The PARC technique was showcased in 2019 at a neurodiversity and criminal justice conference. Feedback was incredibly positive with an eminent professor, Dame Sue Bailey, a consultant child and adolescent forensic psychiatrist and professor of child and adolescent mental health, remarking that the material should be on every public health screen across the country, thus illustrating its flexibility across other settings such as healthcare and education.

Our training also includes a powerful video shared by Prosper Fingal. Produced by and featuring individuals with a disability, it aptly places the audience in a position where they are left examining their own attitudes and unconscious bias. In designing materials we were keenly aware that whenever an individual engages with a public service body, there is an automatic power imbalance and more often than not, those who are engaging with these services are in a vulnerable position. Rather than focusing on individual disabilities, we sought to concentrate on how persons may present, the challenges and obstacles they face, while also providing training on how to tune in and manage encounters compassionately and safely through effective communication, de-escalating techniques, tools for early identification and when to seek support and intervention.

In 2019, we delivered a pilot training programme to the Garda Síochána. The model of our training delivery is multidisciplinary and depends very much on the participation of healthcare professionals and advocates with lived experience of disability. This was followed by further approaches and discussions with three other criminal justice agencies. Proposals were sought, submitted and positively received. The structure of the ICJDN was informed by findings in the UK from the Bradley report, where Lord Bradley identified that one of the main problems with previous policy development has been the piecemeal approach taken. He noted that one of the most common phrases repeated to him by stakeholders time and again was that people and organisations were working in silos.

The ICJDN continues to take an inclusive and holistic social model approach to addressing effective access to justice for persons with a disability. All the valuable work to date has been done pro bonoand this is not sustainable. Despite continuing engagement, we are concerned that the proposed actions from the round-table discussion and evidence-based research have yet to be implemented. Due to Covid-19 and its disruption across public bodies, we are still awaiting responses to each of our proposals. In the meantime we need to highlight the necessity for adequate funding and a more formalised structure to progress the work of this initiative. We strongly feel our approach will effect change and positively impact on the criminal justice process for those with a disability, rather than serving as a mere box-ticking exercise. We believe an investment of resources is likely to provide a net benefit to the State in terms of delivering improved outcomes for people with a disability who deserve support and specialist care provision. However, this can only be done through the appropriate delivery of valuable supports and resources that honestly address the challenges faced by those working in the system.