Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 20 April 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters

A Rights-Based Approach and Disability Legislation: National Disability Authority

Dr. Aideen Hartney:

It is certainly an option that could work. Something important for any steering group convened is that the officials who are assigned to sit on it are at the decision-making level within Departments because that was a challenge under the previous strategy, where people had to take back concerns to their Department and see what could be done then. It would be important that a steering group, such as the Deputy is talking about, looks at the high-level issues and is given the space and time to focus on the intractable questions rather than some of the granular stuff that could be dealt with through either a workstream issue or at departmental level.