John Dolan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

We are speaking about a five-year review but the clock does not start ticking until the Bill is enacted. In that regard, having moved it on in this House this evening, I hope that we will all give it our best efforts to ensure it comes before the Dáil at an early stage.

I hope that the five-year review will not be the sole mechanism for reviewing the legislation. The Minister of State has mentioned the national disability inclusion strategy on a number of occasions today and some of its key elements relate to this legislation. The ratification of the UN convention, which the Minister of State and I most love to discuss, is due fairly soon. This concerns many of the issues discussed here today, for example, equality and non-discrimination. The convention provides that "States Parties recognize that all persons are equal before and under the law and are entitled without any discrimination to ... equal protection". On children it provides that "States Parties shall ensure that children with disabilities have the right to express their views freely on all matters affecting them, their views being given due weight in accordance with their age and maturity".

Article 9 relates to accessibility to information, communications and other services, including electronic services and emergency services. Article 12 provides for equal recognition before the law. This matter was raised by Senator Clifford-Lee and others. The article provides: "States Parties reaffirm that persons with disabilities have the right to recognition everywhere as persons before the law." On independent living, the convention states that party states will ensure that "[c]ommunity services and facilities for the general population are available on an equal basis".

That is a bit of a list but it is still only a short one. We have agreed to these things and getting on with them as speedily as possible gives further support to ensuring that what is agreed here and, it is hoped, will be agreed in the Dáil can come to pass as soon as possible.