David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this matter.

We all take the Ombudsman's report very seriously. When the Ombudsman addresses the issues I am about to raise we should take it even more seriously. She maintains that out of the 2,747 formal complaints made last year, only six related to the Disability Act 2005. She expressed her concern that this is a remarkably low level of complaint.

She observes that many public servants have a serious lack of knowledge about their responsibilities under the Disability Act 2005. Despite having made similar comments in the past number of years, it appears that very little has been done to address this, despite the obligations of the Act. She states that if people with disabilities do not have information easily available to let them know how to make a complaint against a public body, then it is no surprise that complaints from them remain remarkably low, year on year.

Does the Minister agree there is inaction among many public bodies in taking their duties under the Disability Act seriously enough and specifically in tackling the knowledge gap among their staff about their responsibilities under the Act? A code of practice for public bodies about their responsibilities under the Act was developed by the National Disability Authority, but many public bodies seem to be unaware of its existence.

The Ombudsman highlights the failure of public bodies to establish an adequate and effective complaints procedure through disability access officers, covered under section 26 of the Act. These are supposed to assist clients with disabilities in accessing public buildings, services and information which has led to people with disabilities simply not being able to seek assistance. The lack of information about access officers has led people to make what are classified as premature complaints to the Ombudsman. These are complaints made before using the complaints mechanism of the public body concerned as this complaints system remains inaccessible to people with disabilities. In fact, of the 105 websites surveyed by the Ombudsman, only 20, that is 19%, contained information about access officers and for many of these, ease of access to the information proved difficult. Only five of the websites surveyed contained information about how to make a complaint specifically in relation to the failure of the body to comply with Part 3 of the Disability Act. As the Minister's Department is charged with monitoring and overseeing the implementation of the Disability Act, in particular measures in relation to Part 3 and Part 5 dealing with the public sector, I ask him what will be done to address this issue.

This is a serious issue when coupled with the failure of the Government to introduce a personal advocacy service through the Citizens information Board. When legislation was passed it was envisaged that a personal advocate would assist people with disabilities in accessing all public services, not just health services, and acting as their representative in dealing with public bodies if they were unable to do so.

Would the Minister agree that these failures undermine the statutory right of people with disabilities to complain where public bodies fail in their duty to them? I agree with the Ombudsman, and I am sure many people with disabilities, their carers, families would agree, that this situation is "wholly unacceptable". When the Ombudsman uses language as strong as that we should all take note and act to protect vulnerable citizens in their endeavours to secure the services to which they are entitled under the law.

I will be interested to hear what the Minister has to say on this very important issue.

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Stanton for raising this matter. My colleague, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, has asked me to reply to the Deputy on his behalf.

I wish to outline the comprehensive policy and strategy that is in place in this area. The National Disability Authority, NDA, received a formal request from the then Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr. Michael McDowell, to develop a code of practice on accessible information and services to support public bodies in meeting their new statutory obligations under the Disability Act 2005.

In September 2005, the NDA engaged in consultations with Government Departments that would be impacted by the code and by October 2005 had developed an early draft code. This draft code was circulated to over 600 stakeholders, including representatives of persons with disabilities and was also advertised in the national press with a general call for comment. As a result of this consultation phase, an advanced draft of the code was prepared and circulated to Government Departments for final comment. The code of practice was finalised and submitted to the Minister in late 2005 and was declared an approved code of practice under the Disability Act 2005 in April 2006 under Statutory Instrument No. 163 of 2006. The code of practice was launched in July 2006 as part of the national disability strategy and this launch was attended by An Taoiseach and seven Government Ministers.

In presenting the code, the then Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform indicated that the code was intended to support public bodies in meeting their new statutory obligations under the Disability Act and would provide public bodies with general guidance and practical examples of how they might approach it. To ensure that public bodies were aware of the code, the NDA organised a series of regional briefings on it in October 2006 and circulated copies of the code to each of the then 570 public bodies impacted by it. The NDA code of practice was also presented at the 15th annual European social services network conference held in Berlin in June 2007 at which considerable interest was shown in the scope and content of Ireland's national disability strategy.

At the recent annual conference for access officers held 3 May, presentations on improving accessibility of information were made by the ESB and Mayo County Council. The Railway Procurement Agency and Monaghan County Council presented on accessible procurement processes in line with section 27 of the Disability Act and Cork County Council and the Department of Social and Family Affairs presented on improving accessibility of websites.

To establish the most appropriate way to monitor implementation of the code of practice, the NDA commissioned preliminary independent research. This research was conducted in consultation with all key stakeholders and indicated that the best approach would be a self-report monitoring survey. Accordingly, the NDA developed a draft monitoring questionnaire. Following extensive consultations with 15 Departments, 568 public bodies and representative groups for persons with disabilities, a finalised questionnaire was issued for completion by public bodies in April 2008.

The findings of the NDA's 2008 monitoring survey provide ample evidence of awareness of statutory requirements and commitment to providing accessible information and services among the public bodies that made returns. However, it must be borne in mind that non-responses may well be indicative of some lack of completeness or confidence in implementation and compliance achieved at the time of the survey, which is part of the Deputy's point. It should also be noted that some organisations that have recently been established and are newly impacted by the code were included in the survey. Such organisations will require some time to identify properly and address fully all of the accessibility issues that will pertain to the services and information they have been established to provide.

Among public bodies that made returns on the survey, many important achievements have been observed. Notable examples of best practice were observed in respect of some particular organisations and actions. Notwithstanding this, a small number of important areas of underachievement requiring attention were also identified.

In so far as the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform is concerned, in 2006 the Department prepared an accessibility action plan to set out the steps it is taking to deliver accessible public services. This elaborates on the general commitments in the Department's customer charter and takes into account its obligations under the Disability Act 2005. The Department has also formed a disability advisory committee with a view to improving access to public services provided by the Department for people with disabilities. The committee comprises representatives from a number of relevant divisions within the Department. To provide additional expert input, the Department's disability policy division also participates in this exercise. The remit of the committee does not extend to the public bodies under the Department's aegis, but there are proposals to ensure liaison with such agencies with a view to pooling experience in this field. The Department also has a disability liaison officer, an accommodation officer and access officers to monitor services for people with disabilities.

In consultation with OPW and other parties, the Department intends to undertake regular reviews of its accommodation and related accessibility issues in its facilities and services and will carry out reasonable modifications to improve access to its accommodation. To date, the measures taken to improve accessibility include modifications to the built environment, disability awareness training for departmental staff and website redevelopment. The Deputy will appreciate from what I have stated that a considerable amount of work and attention is being given to promoting the code of practice and ensuring implementation. That work will continue and I am sure that account will be taken by all concerned of what the Ombudsman has stated in her annual report.