Dr. Robert Mooney:

I thank the Chair for the invitation to meet with the committee. I lead the national dialogue on climate action, NDCA, in the Department.

The specific challenges facing people with disabilities are reflected in a number of policy areas within the Department . I will focus on the NDCA, the national adaptation framework, the circular economy, and the sustainable development goals.

Under the national dialogue, delivering on our climate ambition requires that the Government and the people of Ireland come together in a strengthened social contract for climate action and the co-creation of real solutions to these challenges. The NDCA is led by the Department and is the central vehicle to engage, enable, and empower people to participate in taking climate action and to inform the climate action plan and sectoral policy. This is being delivered through four key pillars. They include: increasing awareness of climate change based on evidence; delivering an inclusive programme of engagement to inform climate policy; promoting climate literacy and improving people's capacity to act and; empowering people to make positive behavioural changes that improve their quality of life.

The outcome of the NDCA is the delivery of a strengthened social contract between the Government and the Irish people around climate action. In terms of populations vulnerable to the transition to carbon neutrality, in 2022, the NDCA hosted ten focus groups to engage a variety of populations vulnerable to the transition to carbon neutrality. We held one focus group involving people with disabilities in June 2022. We reached out to the Disability Federation Ireland, the Disability Participation and Consultation Network, and the Irish Deaf Society and through them and other contacts we were only able to secure two participants to attend - from the Rehab Group and the National Council for the Blind. That was a result of the time of the engagement rather than the willingness to attend.

The findings from the focus group show that the disabled community face different challenges in their daily lives compared with the rest of society. These include inaccessible public transport. One focus group stated, "in the shift toward walking and cycling over personal car use, disabled people are often unable to make this switch". There also may be significant disruption to routines in the context of retrofitting homes. Limited access to sustainable options to replace single-use plastics may disproportionately affect disabled people. Equally, there is a reduced capacity for representation in climate discussions among this group.

Reflecting on this, we have revised the programme for the national dialogue in 2023 and the climate actions in 2023 support people with disabilities. The findings from the focus groups provided rich content but we know we need more participants to engage with us actively in the future. As a result, a broader range of organisations will be contacted earlier in the year to secure the required numbers and to allow for a broader participation. A programme of work is planned for 2023 across a number of areas within the Department to engage people with disabilities in climate policy.

Under the national dialogue, we plan to establish key performance indicators across the entire NDCA programme, which will be relevant to people with disabilities. We will engage in further outreach to those not yet engaged in the climate dialogue, including people with disabilities, by building on the engagement last year and transitioning from a focus group-style approach to a series of deliberative workshops. We will ensure a broader range of stakeholder groups representing people with disabilities are in attendance and facilitated at NDCA events, including the national climate stakeholder forums. We will also ensure that the opportunity is provided to input into the climate conversations 2023 on our online consultation platform and that it is communicated to people with disabilities via appropriate organisational links, social media forums and other mechanisms.

We will capture data on the view of people living with disabilities and analysing the specific challenges faced by people living with disabilities. We will provide timely and appropriate feedback to participants to ensure groups are aware that their voice is being heard. We will also provide reports from the NDCA 2023 programme to inform the climate action plan and sectoral policy with a specific focus on challenges faced by people with disabilities.

There are a couple of other key areas of work within the Department that also address this issue. The national adaptation framework was reviewed in 2022. It focused on how it is possible to better integrate the concept of just resilience into the national adaptation policy and references disabled persons rights. Equally, the HSE is currently finalising its climate strategy, which includes the provision of medical care for those with pre-existing conditions, including people with disabilities.

The Circular Economy and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2022 includes a provision for disability rights groups to be formally consulted as part of the process of developing circular economy strategies. There are specific provisions within the Act to address the need for Ireland's transition to a circular economy and to take into account the needs of people with disabilities. A statutory requirement is placed on the Minister to consult with organisations representing the views of disabled persons. Section 7 requires the Minister to consult organisations on the preparation of the circular economy strategy as well as taking into account the content of the national disability inclusion strategy. Section 15 also references the national disability inclusion strategy in regard to the preparation of national food waste prevention strategies.

The Department is responsible for overseeing the coherent implementation of the sustainable development goals, SDGs, across government.

To achieve a disability-inclusive society, the Department recognises that it is important the sustainable development goals, SDGs, are implemented in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and that the two are used together.

To promote greater engagement of disabled people with the SDG national stakeholder engagement mechanisms, all promotional material for initiatives is circulated in accessible formats among disabled persons' organisations, DPOs, and other relevant organisations. A nomination from DPOs was sought for the new SDG forum committee to input into the design, format and work programme of the SDG national stakeholder forum.

A key objective of the Department and the new forum committee is to ensure the format of forum meetings is as inclusive and accessible as possible for all participants. A number of important actions were taken to improve accessibility at the January stakeholder forum meeting, and it is our intention to carry these forward and build on them at the April forum.

I thank the committee. I look forward to responding to any questions the committee members may have.