Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 240: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he publishes documents on matters of concern to persons with disabilities in easy read format; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35386/09]

John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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I can inform the Deputy that my Department is committed to providing a high quality Customer Service to all customers including those with a disability and that a wide range of documents on matters of concern to people with disabilities are published in large print, Braille, Audio, plain English and/or easy read pictures. Examples of these include documents such as the Disability Act, the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Gender Equality in Ireland and the Code of Practice on Accessibility of Public Services and information provided by Public Bodies as well as the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers Action Plan to promote the rights and full participation of people with disabilities in society. I can also confirm that my Department's website (www.justice.ie) is AAA compliant and easy to read format documents and web content can be published on this website.

Other services available to persons with disabilities that might be of interest to the Deputy include the Irish Prison Service (IPS) website which is enabled for Browsealoud, a computer program that reads aloud all website content. All IPS publications are available on the IPS website (www.irishprisons.ie) and documents published by the Probation Service are available on its website (www.probation.ie) which is AAA compliant. When notified of specific needs, arrangements are made to provide information to customers in an accessible format.

Furthermore, the Equality Authority's website (www.equality.ie) has level three accessibility. The Authority publishes, both in hard copy and on its website, several explanatory booklets and leaflets on equality, maternity, parental and adoptive matters along with a free quarterly newsletter and a large number of specialist publications which are all available in PDF and Rich Text Format. Publications are available on demand in large font, braille, and as required. The Equality Tribunal publishes all its forms and leaflets in easy read format on request. Its customer service leaflets have achieved the National Adult Literacy Agency kitemark award for literacy. The Tribunal also translates its documents into braille format and onto audio tape on request.