Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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Question 132: To ask the Taoiseach the buildings occupied by his Department which are and which are not fully accessible to people with disabilities in tabular readable form. [31036/07]

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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My Department occupies and administers the West Block of Government Buildings, Upper Merrion Street, Dublin 2 and for many years has been conscious of our duty to ensure access to our buildings and services by people with disabilities. At the time of the adaptation of the building for the Department in the early 1990's, many facilities were provided, which have subsequently been improved upon, and we will continue to review facilities and upgrade them as necessary. As part of our endeavours to adopt best practice, hearing loops to facilitate those with hearing aids have been installed in the Welcome Pavilion, at Reception, in the Press Centre and in all conference rooms throughout the building. People with disabilities can access all areas of Government Buildings included in the Saturday Tours and a portable hearing loop is also available on request.

The Department of the Taoiseach website is continually monitored to ensure compliance with WAI and W3C Accessibility Guidelines. We have also recently installed a number of induction coupler telephones and Minicoms (Telephone devices for the Deaf, TDD's) throughout the Department. My Department provides access to information to people with a disability in a variety of formats on request (this can include Braille, simple text documents or large print). Assistive technologies are supplied to staff and visitors as necessary and accessibility tools are part of the standard desktop used in my Department. As part of this Department's ongoing Customer Services initiatives, an access audit of the Department was carried out in December 2006. The intent was to ensure compliance with the requirements of the Disability Act, 2005 and to further improve on the Department's existing facilities and services. Arising from the audit, a programme of work has been prepared in conjunction with OPW to address many of the issues raised. The access audit identifies a range of barriers that potentially restrict access for disabled people to the built environment and its recommendations now form part of the Department's ongoing and strategic plans to ensure its buildings and services are accessible to all.

The audit report noted that due to the building's features, its location and protected heritage conservation status, most of the major works that are required to comply with Best Practice for accessibility are not practical to effect. However, it also found that the building was open and well designed for universal accessibility. The Department's Disability Monitoring Committee will continue to explore and implement opportunities to improve services to people with disabilities. This Committee seeks to ensure that the range of services provided by the Department is accessible to people with disabilities and that staff of the Department engage proactively in the process. In line with the requirements of the Disability Act, 2005, we have also appointed an Inquiry Officer (who will deal with complaints where the Department fails to comply with the Act) and an Access Officer (to ensure compliance with the Act in terms of facilities, services and the built environment). We also have a Disability Liaison Officer and an Employee Assistance Officer.