Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I seem to have been struck by the curse of Dáil déjà vubecause I recall raising the issue of Ireland's ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities with the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, this time last year, almost to the day. One year on, we appear to be in exactly the same position, unless the Minister of State is about to tell the House otherwise.

Last Sunday was International Day of Disabled Persons and after 11 years, we still have not ratified the UNCRPD. In fact, Ireland is the only country in Europe not to ratify the convention. Over 200 countries in the world have ratified the convention. Last year, I emphasised that key legislation underpinning the convention could be passed by this House even before the convention is ratified.

The Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, has a track record on this, but he has staked his reputation on this matter and it has still not been ratified. Waiting for the convention to be ratified is like "Waiting for Godot". This is a human rights issue. This is about equality in Ireland.

Last week, as the Minister of State will be aware, a good campaigner, John Doyle, who was incredibly vocal on disability, passed away. I will read what he stated in a blog about the non-ratification of the UNCRPD because it is poignant. He wrote:

December 3rd is International Day of Disabled People. I hate this day for what it has become. It was to be a day of celebration of inclusion and equality but instead every year we get an endless parade of politicians lining up to put a positive spin on having done nothing to really address the inequalities faced by disabled people.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with a Disability (UNCRPD) was signed in 2006 by the Irish Government and a full ten years later and several governments on, it has still not been ratified. The lack of ratifying this document has left disabled people with no recourse to enforceable laws which would have given some protection against the myriad of institutional abuses we have seen over the last 10 years.

We still have not ratified the UNCRPD. It is incredible. People in this country are extremely angry and they will voice their protest on Saturday at 12 o'clock at the GPO. Has the Minister of State any good news for the 600,000 people with disabilities in this country who want to see this ratified?

Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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I have just come from a Cabinet meeting. The Cabinet has agreed to formally ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Today's Government decision is a significant milestone. I am delighted that my colleagues in government have supported me in deciding that the Convention should be ratified by Ireland. We will be returning to this at the next Government meeting to put the formal process in train and I am confident that all the necessary administrative processes will be completed within a few weeks.

My focus, as the Members all know, has been to promote and protect the enjoyment of human rights by all of our citizens and in this case, on the UN Convention, for all people with a disability.

I also welcome the progress made in recent weeks and months on the drafting of legislation by the Department of Health on the deprivation of liberty. It is a positive development and testament to the fact that genuine progress on meeting the needs and rights of people with disabilities is being made.

Deprivation of liberty is a sensitive and important matter which goes to the heart of fundamental freedoms and human rights. Legislative proposals in this area will have significant implications for families, the operation of the health services and the courts. It is important the people fully understand what is being proposed. In this regard, I will be inviting submissions from stakeholders and the general public.

We are making good progress in making all of the Convention's requirements operational in Ireland in an appropriate manner. Considerable progress has been made to overcome the remaining legislative barriers to Ireland's full implementation of the Convention as set out in the 2015 roadmap. The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 was signed into law on 30 December 2015 and is a comprehensive reform of the law on decision-making capacity. Section 5 of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 1993 was reformed through a 2017 Act of the same name to facilitate the full participation in family life of persons with intellectual disabilities and the full expression of their human rights.

There are two further priority implementation issues. These are the enactment of the Disability (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2016 and the commencement of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 which requires the Decision Support Service to be operational and ready to roll out the new decision-making support options. The 2018 budget provided an allocation of €3 million for the establishment of the Decision Support Service. I am also delighted to announced that we appointed the director of the Decision Support Service in October.

In the meantime, I am continuing to take a wide range of practical measures to improve the lives of people with disabilities. The report of the Make Work Pay Group was published in April of this year and already action, as announced by the Minister, Deputy Harris, has been taken on its recommendations. We have a comprehensive employment strategy in place and 2017 has seen positive action measures being taken to support public sector recruitment of people with disabilities. In July of this year I published the disability inclusion strategy containing a wide range of practical commitments to improve the lives of people with disabilities. There are over 114 recommendations and already many of these are being implemented.

I promised that we would ratify the UNCRPD and I am delivering on that promise tonight with the support of the Government.

Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance)
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That is all well and good - I do not want to be sceptical because I am not a sceptic by nature - but I heard all this, last year and in February. I asked the Minister of State when would this be ratified and he stated it would be a couple of weeks before Christmas.

The reply is ambiguous. Can Deputy Finian McGrath give an exact date when the UNCRPD will be ratified? To say that it will be as soon as possible could mean anything. I heard that last year. It could be another year. I am not questioning the Minister of State's bona fides but the reply is too ambiguous.

Deputy Finian McGrath must give an exact date when this Convention will be ratified. If he waits for all the legislation and by-laws, we will be waiting forever. The Minister of State even stated this morning in the media that does not have to happen, we would ratify it and then the primary legislation can be legislated for. Can the Minister of State give an exact date when this Convention will be ratified? As I stated, 600,000 people are relying on the Minister of State's words and they are very important words.

Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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The major announcement today is that the Cabinet - I have just come from that Cabinet meeting - formally adopted and supported my proposal to ratify the UN Convention.

The other issues that are in place are as follows. As I stated previously, the €3 million for the Decision Support Service has been allocated. The legislation will be published tomorrow and we will move on from there. The key point here is we will move on this as quickly as possible and we will be bringing another memorandum to Cabinet before the Christmas break.

The direct answer to the Deputy's question is I see us formally ratifying the UN Convention in early January, and sooner if possible. However, it also has to do with logistics. We have got to bring a memorandum to Cabinet. We have to bring a formal motion before the Dáil.

Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance)
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It is the exact same.

Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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It is not exactly.

Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance)
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It is the exact same.

Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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We have moved on a significant distance over the past number of months. There have been major improvements, a major move in direction.

There is something important I want to point out to Deputy Gino Kenny on the key aspect here on the deprivation of liberty. I want to have space and time to have consultations with every disabled person, every civic group, every senior citizens' group, people with a mental illness and others who might come to me and propose amendments on the deprivation of liberty. I have an open door but I want to ensure that we consult. This is a sensitive matter, particularly for the vulnerable. I want to ensure that the legislation is right. The legislation will be published tomorrow and people will have an opportunity to examine it.

It is wrong to say it is the exact same. Two things have happened today. The Government formally agreed to ratify. That is the key message I want to send out today. The second message is we are moving on the legislation. We are moving on the consultation process.

Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance)
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The Minister of State said exactly the same last year.

Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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I would say early in the new year.