Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State at the Department of Health with special responsibility for disability issues has announced that the Cabinet has decided to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and he stated that the Government will bring a resolution to this effect before the Dáil. The Disabilities (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2016 passed Second Stage in this House last February and has been on Committee Stage since and we have now been waiting a year for the amendments from the Minister. A road map to drive the ratification process has been in place since October 2015 and the delay seems to have arisen from the fact that the Minister cannot get his act together to bring forward the amendments to enable us to enact the Bill.

It has always been our position that we ratify UN conventions after the legal provisions have been passed. This is a unique situation where the Minister cannot get the law enacted so he is going to ratify it in advance. Can the Taoiseach confirm when we will see the amendments and the enactment of the Bill? When will we have a formal resolution to ratify the convention before the House?

See this speech in context