Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 411: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the work being done by him, the Equality Authority and relevant State agencies to eliminate the barriers experienced by persons with mental health problems in achieving equality and equal opportunity, as well as exercising their rights under Irish equality legislation to challenge discrimination and seek redress. [7979/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Ireland has comprehensive legal protection against discrimination on the ground of disability. Persons with disabilities are protected from discrimination and afforded reasonable accommodation in access to goods and services and in the field of employment, under the Equal Status Acts 2000 to 2008 and the Employment Equality Acts 1998 to 2008, respectively. In enforcing their right to non-discrimination, people with disabilities and their carers may seek advice from the Equality Authority. If they feel they have been discriminated against contrary to law, they may make a complaint to the Equality Tribunal.

The National Disability Authority is the independent state body providing expert advice on disability policy and practice to the Minister and promoting Universal Design. To address negative public attitudes towards people with mental health difficulties, identified by the National Disability Authority's research on attitudes towards people with disabilities conducted in 2001 and 2006, the Authority ran a series of national awareness raising campaigns between 2007 and 2008. These campaigns were aimed at influencing public attitudes, to encourage the public to see the person not the mental health label, and have been shown through independent evaluation to have had a positive impact.

I might also mention that it is the Government's intention to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) as quickly as possible, taking into account the need to ensure that all necessary requirements under the Convention are being met. As the Deputy may be aware, Ireland does not become party to treaties until it is first in a position to comply with the obligations imposed by the treaty in question, including by amending domestic law as necessary.

One of the key requirements in this regard is the enactment of mental capacity legislation. The Government Legislation Programme announced on 5 April 2011 indicates that the Mental Capacity Bill is expected to be published in late 2011. The Bill will reform the law on mental capacity taking into account the Law Reform Commission's Report on Vulnerable Adults and the Law. The Bill will replace the Wards of Court system with a modern statutory framework governing decision-making on behalf of adults who lack capacity. It will facilitate ratification of the UNCRPD and give effect to the Hague Convention on the International Protection of Adults.