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

Mr. Dharragh Hunt:

I can answer that very quickly. We are on the advisory group. As the name suggests it is only advisory. There is a working group, which is probably more the decision-making group, and we are on a wider one with many other stakeholders. I assure the Leas-Chathaoirleach we have input at that on the need for the Disability Act to be reviewed from the first day we met. People introduced themselves and what they were going to bring to it and one of the things we said really clearly was we could not understand why the two pieces of legislation were not being reviewed in tandem. With the EPSEN Act, there has been huge engagement. I think the survey has been answered by something like 12,000 and there has been much engagement, but we are engaging with families on two pieces of legislation that are supposed to be intertwined. Even if the other one is done in 18 months time or so, it seems ineffective and probably unfair on people. People's lives are not like that. You do not talk about education one day and another day talk about something else. Your life is your life and to have to input separately is not fair. We definitely inputted that the Acts should have been reviewed together.