Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

General comment 7 of the UNCRPD is clear. DPROs must be consulted by public bodies, local authorities, etc., on issues relating to disability. Many of them consult with disability organisations, but these are not necessarily DPROs. We need a register of DPOs, with a criterion indicating what a DPO is and an outline of the different categories of disability, namely, whether it is physical or intellectual or whether it relates to someone who is visually impaired or deaf or hard of hearing.

Nothing about us without us is what we have to go by. The UNCRPD is clear that people with disabilities and the organisations that represent them must be consulted. There must be meaningful engagement rather than the box-ticking that many organisations engage in.

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