Ms Catherine Naughton:

I thank the Chair for the invitation to take part in the committee today. While it was disappointing that Ireland was the last EU member state to ratify the convention, it is inspiring to see the leadership now being shown in Ireland through the establishment of this joint committee. The committee demonstrates the vital scrutiny role that national parliaments can play.

As Mr. Markus Schefer has already pointed out, parliamentary oversight complements the independent monitoring function established in the convention. Of course, this committee does not stand alone. Every other committee in Dáil which follows a Department also should be playing this scrutiny role. For example, if the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence is working on the sustainable development goals, SDGs, this is also where the inclusion of and accessibility for persons with disabilities can be handled. This Committee on Disability Matters can hold ministers and civil servants to account related to implementation of the convention and the allocation of resources to its implementation. It also has the opportunity to discuss these matters with visiting EU officials, giving the committee a potential role in the scrutiny of the implementation of European Disability Rights Strategy, which was adopted recently in March 2021.

In terms of the ratification of the optional protocol, which allows individuals, groups of individuals or third parties to submit a complaint to the committee, complaints can only be made against a state party that has ratified the optional protocol. It is, therefore, important that Ireland moves ahead with this. Twenty-two EU member states as well as all EU candidate countries and the United Kingdom have ratified the optional protocol. The CRPD committee has consistently called on state parties to do so in its concluding observations. We see it as an important measure of a state party’s willingness to be held to account and to enable its citizens to seek redress.

The sustainable development agenda was mentioned on the agenda of this meeting. At the core of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development is its promise to “leave no one behind” but also “to reach the furthest behind first”. Unlike the previous millennium development goals, MDGs, disability issues and persons with disabilities are includedwith 11 specific references throughout the 2030 agenda. Persons with disabilities are mentioned 19 times in the SDGs. A key message presented in the introduction of the indicator framework is that all indicators should be disaggregated, where relevant, by disability and other characteristics. If you want to know how well Ireland is progressing in its goals to tackle poverty, you also need to know how people with disabilities are being reached.

On Covid-19, people with disabilities around the world have been hit very hard by the pandemic, by the measures taken to control the pandemic and by the pandemic itself, looking at the loss of life of people living in institutional facilities across Europe, and of course by the middle and long-term economic consequences. On the EU's recovery and resilience facility, Ireland is expected to receive €853 million in 2021 and 2022. It is important to see this as an opportunity to invest in and to promote the rights of people with disabilities. Following the guidelines given by the European Commission, there should have been extensive consultation with civic society on how and where those funds could be used. Persons with disabilities should be at the heart of reforms funded by Ireland’s recovery and resilience plan. The area of greatest concern is, of course, the tragic number of deaths and infections in residential care. EU funding is an opportunity for Ireland to invest in personalised and community-based support and services to ensure those who require support and services are not cut off from their communities in times of crisis. It is also an opportunity to assist persons with disabilities in finding their place in the open labour market, especially after the job losses we have seen during Covid-19.

Last, as we hope we see the end of the Covid-19 crisis, EDF has been campaigning for access for persons with disabilities to vaccination. In low- and middle-income countries around the world, it is expected the European Union and countries such as Ireland will contribute to the COVAX programme to ensure vaccination and recovery funding and investment will these countries without discrimination. This is something Ireland can support.