Dr. Aideen Hartney:

He has a huge brief but that level of investment means that it is represented at the Cabinet table. As Mr. Hunt stated, if something like the sectoral plan idea could be incorporated in a UNCRPD implementation strategy, that would provide a driving mechanism for other Departments. One of our concerns is that if there were a Ministry for disability or it became a specific thing, other Departments might be of the view that it is all taken care of in that ministry and the matter would become even more siloed rather than less so. Although it may be timely to update the Disability Act, it was important in its time in providing that kind of legislative underpinning for a mainstreaming approach. As the Senator rightly stated, disability applies across the life course. When the census figures come out later this year, they will probably indicate that upwards of 15% of the population declared they have a disability to some extent. That is significant. It means that every domain of the public with which a Department deals on the areas within its remit would have application to people with disabilities. It is those underpinning mechanisms with regard to disability proofing all policies and interventions at the outset, ensuring there is co-operation and compiling detailed plans at the level of each sector that are important because not only will it be all of those Departments setting out their areas of commitment and their recognition of the rights of people with disabilities, it will also provides a much more straightforward and transparent monitoring mechanism to determine whether they have delivered on those commitments. There are other mechanisms that can be utilised. In the past, Cabinet committees on social inclusion looked at this area. That may be something to reconsider. I am cautioning that the designation of a particular Minister or Department does not necessarily resolve all the difficulties because the issue spans across so much.