Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)

Ireland ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, UNCRPD, in 2018. Since ratification, Ireland's approach has been to ensure cumulative advancements over time. The programme for Government commits to delivering a new national disability strategy that will provide an overarching framework for advancing the State’s obligations under the UNCRPD. In advance of the strategy, work continues unabated across government to advance implementation, with achievements including: increases in funding for disability services, including €3.2 billion in budget 2025 for HSE disability services; the ratification of the optional protocol to the UNCRPD; the publication of the Action Plan for Disability Services 2024-2026; publication of the autism innovation strategy; the commencement in 2023 of the Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) Act 2015, as amended, which establishes a modern legal framework to support decision-making by adults who may have difficulty making decisions without help; the introduction of key programmes like the work and access scheme to support disabled people in accessing employment; and the publication of the National Housing Strategy for Disabled People 2022-2027.

The publication of the next national disability strategy will be the next milestone in Ireland's UNCRPD journey. That provides a whole-of-government framework for the advancement of rights. It will be ambitious. It will take action across a range of thematic pillars taken collectively that will capture the issues that most affect disabled people in their day-to-day lives, including education, employment, independent living, health and transport. It is codesigned with disabled people and their representative organisations. The strategy will provide a framework for sustaining and building on this progress and ensuring that disabled people are empowered to live full lives of their own choosing

See this speech in context