Ms Renee Dempsey-Clifford:

I am very privileged to be present here today with my colleagues to make a witness statement to this very important committee. I thank the committee for inviting us. I am the independent chair of the Disability Stakeholder Group, which is a voluntary group of individuals with expertise and lived experience of disability who are appointed by the Minister of State with responsibility for disability on foot of an open invitation process. The DSG is appointed on a three-year cycle and the current iteration is the fifth.

The DSG is not established to be a lobby group. Instead, members of the DSG are appointed to work in partnership with Departments to monitor the implementation of the national disability inclusion strategy, NDIS. This includes the opportunity to focus on individual issues, which is what we are here to do today. Through its actions, the NDIS supports progress towards implementing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, UNCRPD. DSG members report regularly to the Minister on progress.

As outlined by the Vice Chair, two DSG members, Dr. Vivian Rath and Ms Annette Costello, are present here today and they will make specific presentations on their experiences on this important subject. In terms of the policy background, our statement today will focus on NDIS Action 29, which is to improve participation in public and political life, and Action 77, on being an active citizen, which both relate to UNCRPD Article 29 on participation in public and political life. The statement draws on the experiences of DSG members with accessible voting and the political representation of persons with disabilities.

There are more than 650,000 persons with disabilities in Ireland. Despite the size of the constituency, there is relative political silence when it comes to the matter. An analysis carried out after the most recent general election offers a snapshot of the reality for persons with disabilities accessing their franchise rights on an equal basis with others. Accordingly, I will now ask Dr. Vivian Rath of the DSG to present this analysis.