Dr. James Casey:

The DPO Network welcomes the opportunity to be here today. The DPO Network is an Irish alliance of disabled people and their organisations, five DPOs, who have joined together as we have a common interest in the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Ireland. The five DPO member organisations of the DPO Network are AsIAm, Ireland's National Autism Advocacy Organisation; Disabled Women Ireland, DWI; Independent Living Movement Ireland, ILMI, which I represent; the Irish Deaf Society, IDS, of which Mr. John Sherwin is present; and the National Platform of Self Advocates, from which our comrade, Mr. Joe McGrath, is joining the meeting online.

The DPO Network is committed to the human rights and social model of disability which states that the exclusion, inequality and discrimination that disabled people experience are not the consequence of our impairments but, rather, a result of the economic, cultural, social and political barriers which are created and persist in society. The network recognises that this committee and other State agencies are beginning to identify the primacy of DPOs as per Article 4.3 and the general comment of the CRPD. This recognition of the role of DPOs in the development of policy and direct consultation is welcome.

The DPO Network is concerned, however, about the increased awareness of the role of DPOs without a real plan for how our development is to be supported and resourced. This results in DPOs being unable to participate in a meaningful way in the representation and consultative spaces or that the calls for DPO involvement result in tokenistic participation that is not underpinned by clear positions and strategies developed by the DPOs. On that basis, the DPO Network will repeat the following observations on how DPOs should be resourced locally and nationally to inform the development of policies to authentically implement the CRPD.

Ireland’s obligations under the CRPD are to ensure that State invests in policies, practices and supports to include disabled people in society as equals. Central to the effective implementation of the CRPD will be the full and effective participation of disabled people in the design, delivery and monitoring of policy at a local, regional and national level. Due to the dominance of disability service providers and the disability industry in Ireland - "disability sector" is the term we use - disabled people and DPOs have not directly benefited from sufficient investment to develop effective representation and policy development functions. This call for investment and core funding is imperative and continues to have a serious impact in disabled people’s voices being heard in policy and community development locally and nationally.

Meaningful engagement can only be done through strategic, multi-annual investment in DPOs. This will allow us to create spaces for disabled people to work collectively together, identify what structures to engage in that maximise our time and effort and bring collective policies to influence State policy and service development. Investing in DPOs will also allow us to lead on consultation with disabled people and nominate our representatives to bring our voice to the table. We hope increased recognition of the primary role of DPOs in the CRPD will see a systemic shift towards investment in DPOs so that they can organise collectively, and sustainably, to bring about a more inclusive society. We will continue to campaign for this.

A method of identifying authentic DPOs needs to be established in partnership with existing DPOs. One example of this is the DPO checklist in New Zealand. The NDA has quite a good paper on DPOs' identification using Australia, New Zealand and other countries. The criteria required to be recognised as a DPO need to be available and accessible to groups representing disabled people, and support must be available to enable appropriate groups to meet any criteria additional to those outlined under general comment 7. For instance, should it be necessary for an organisation to have a terms of reference or a constitution, or to register with a body such as the Companies Registration Office, CRO, to secure recognition as a DPO, then advice and practical support should be available for this. Disabled people have, as a community, significantly decreased access to financial and educational resources and many DPOs and local disabled people’s groups are run on an entirely voluntary basis. Navigating criteria such as these may fall outside their skill sets without support to build these skills being made available.

While it is important to have a rigorous and transparent method of identifying DPOs and distinguishing them from all other types of organisations, it is important that all genuinely self-representative groups advocating on behalf of their membership are adequately supported to do so. We have a relatively sparse and new DPO landscape in Ireland, and investment in empowering this space to grow is imperative to advancing the CRPD at both a local and national level.

It is critical that DPOs are invited to all meetings where issues related to their work are discussed at Oireachtas committee sessions. We are aware of many instances of meetings over the last year across different committees that included discussions with stakeholders, including service providers in the disability sector, about disability issues but where the relevant DPO organisations were not invited to attend or, worse, requested an invite to attend but were denied. We acknowledge that until DPOs receive adequate State funding and resourcing, we will not be in a position to attend all meetings but at a minimum, we should be aware of and invited to all meetings that include stakeholder testimony or feedback. We request that the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Disability Matters leads by example in relation to this important aspect of inclusion, to demonstrate adherence to the principles of the CRPD. We also request that the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Disability Matters assist DPOs in making the same request of all Oireachtas committees.

The UNCRPD cannot be implemented locally, regionally, or nationally without investment. It is time to ensure disabled people are resourced to collectively have our voices heard. It is time for "Nothing About Us Without Us" to become a reality.