Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Sinn Féin welcomes the Bill before the House. In the past 12 months, I have tabled a number of questions to the Minister of State concerning his timeline for publishing legislation which will enable us to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Minister of State put a tight timeline on himself last year when he said he would publish the Bill before the end of 2016. He has slipped by a couple of weeks and probably a couple of heads as well going by the legislation before us.

It is certainly a good day, but not a great day unfortunately. I have to be honest with the Minister of State about that. I am concerned that he indicated he will bring forward a raft of amendments on Committee Stage to address some of the heads that were contained in the general scheme of the Bill, but which were not in the Bill as published. When will we have Committee Stage? I suspect that the debate on Second Stage will conclude quickly because everyone wants to move forward with this. Everyone wants to see full ratification but there are some doubts as to whether we will see that. It is my understanding that a number of reservations will be put in by the Government, although we can deal with them at a later stage.

One suspects that we will not see Committee Stage in the short term. I am sure that despite the Minister of State's own timelines, he would have preferred to hold off on debating this and instead finalise the amendments he will bring on Committee Stage and get them into the Bill. In that case, we could all discuss what needs to be done. Unfortunately, so far, the debate has been about what is not in the Bill, rather than what it contains.

Previous speakers mentioned the issues we need to address. I echo what Deputy Jack Chambers said about the groups and NGOs in this field. They feel they have not be sufficiently consulted. The Minister of State talks to those groups regularly. I talk to lots of people every day but that is not the same as consulting them. Saying that he will talk to them is one thing, but it is quite another to bring them to the table as equals and consult them on this legislation. Some of those groups have expressed reservations and feel they were not fully listened to. They say that their concerns were not taken on board. We need to examine that.

I take Deputy Murphy O'Mahony's point about amendments on Committee Stage. Given the way the legislative process works, those groups will not have an opportunity to appear before the Select Committee on Justice and Equality, which will be dealing with these amendments on Committee Stage, and give their viewpoints on it. If that could happen, however, it would be excellent.

I remind the Minister of State that Article 33.3 of the UN convention outlines how people with a lived experience of disability will be facilitated in the role of monitoring the implementation of the convention within this State. The Minister of State should outline how that will be addressed. The deprivation of liberty will not be addressed on Committee Stage, although that is one of the core aspects that needs to be included in order for this State to comply with the UNCRPD. The fact that it will only be included on Committee Stage, rather than on Second Stage, is a mistake.

Article 14B of the UNCRPD clearly states that persons with disabilities should not be deprived of liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily, that any deprivation of liberty is in conformity with the law, and that the existence of a disability shall in no case justify a deprivation of liberty. That must be put into a statutory provision. I know it is the Minister of State's intention to do so, but we have not seen how that will happen. I encourage the Minister of State to publish the amendments as quickly as possible. When he replies to this debate he should outline the timeframe for taking Committee Stage and the publication of those amendments.

The Bill deals with jury service, the Electoral Acts and an expansion of regional accommodation, which is welcome. It also provides an opportunity to include persons with a disability in a meaningful way in the advisory committee to the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, in a monitoring capacity. That has not been included in the Bill, so it needs to be addressed on Committee Stage.

Deputy Chambers touched on the recent remarks of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to the effect that the focal point of the convention should be close to the heart of government such as in the office of a president or prime minister or cabinet office. I understand we have a "super junior" in the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, but some would argue that the equality division within the Department of Justice and Equality is too narrow and too siloed and that it would be better to put this within the Department of the Taoiseach. I remain open to argument on that but Deputy Chambers touched on the interdepartmental collaboration which will be needed and the leadership at Cabinet level. If this came under the Department of the Taoiseach, the Minister of State would probably put himself out of a job.

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