Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Pringle is correct to raise this matter. We have referred to the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the House on a number of occasions. I am sorry that Mr. Larkin did not receive a comprehensive response. That is probably due to the fact that a number of pieces of legislation have to go through yet. We take our international obligations seriously and do not ratify such instruments until we can guarantee compliance. While this convention was signed on 30 March 2007, it has taken all these years to get to a point where we can ratify it. Other countries have ratified the convention before they have introduced the sectoral legislation that would allow for competence to be evident. Ireland has not ratified the convention and this is a recurring criticism by the UN as well as domestic civil society and non-governmental organisations.

Ireland has advanced the position of those with disabilities beyond that of many other European Union states. The Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, is dealing specifically with this area. On 21 October 2015, the Government published a roadmap on Ireland's ratification of the convention.

The roadmap outlines the legislative changes to be undertaken to enable us to ratify the convention with competence, along with the estimated timeframes involved. It indicated a target date for ratification of the end of 2016. This date was reiterated by the Government when it approved the general scheme of the Bill in March 2016 and again in the programme for Government.

Three steps are involved. First, section 5 of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 1993 needs to be replaced. This matter is being addressed in the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015, which has completed its passage through the Seanad and Committee Stage of which is scheduled to be taken in the Dáil today. Second, the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act enacted in 2015 needs to be commenced. Third, the equality (miscellaneous provisions) Bill will address all the remaining issues. Drafting of that Bill is under way and one particular section is taking up quite a deal of the time of the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath. The Bill will have to address issues such as the convention's requirement in respect of reasonable accommodation and what is known as the deprivation of liberty. This matter will be dealt with by a specific amendment on Committee Stage. The heads of the Bill were recently finalised by the Department of Health.

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will not be ratified by the end of the year. The section causing some difficulty is that which deals with reasonable accommodation and deprivation of liberty. A great deal of work is being done by the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, with the assistance and support of the Government. There has been a deal of serious investment in disability services in the past six months, with an additional €31 million in funding provided.

The Minister of State is drafting, with the Minister for Health, provisions on personal assistant hours, which are the focus of the case made by Mr. Larkin. While the matter will not be concluded by the end of the year, we have almost reached the point at which we can ratify the convention with competence.

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