Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ireland signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, UNCRPD, in March 2007. In March 2018, following many years of tireless work by campaign groups, disability advocates and wider civic society, the Government ratified the convention, the purpose of which is to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities and to promote respect of their inherent dignity. At the core of the convention is the realisation of rights that have long been denied to people with disabilities. The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 is at a standstill. The failure to ratify the optional protocol is yet another setback. The protocol has to be progressed. On 9 November 2017 Deputy McDonald and I introduced the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Bill 2017, which will promote and ensure the rights of people subject to the Mental Health Act. We need to move forward in order that Irish citizens will never be denied their rights, dignity and the capacity to make choices for themselves. We need a new mental health Act that will meets the standards of the UNCRPD.

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